Beaufort County, SC Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Section 70-101 of the Beaufort County Code of Ordinances, adopted by Ordinance No. 2021/07 on January 25, 2021, declares "loud, obnoxious, unnecessary or excessive noise" that disturbs the "peaceful enjoyment of private or public property" a public nuisance in the unincorporated county. Subsection (b) sets the numeric standard: noise exceeding 60 decibels, "measured using a digital sound meter and with enforcement officers' discretion," between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. is a violation, and noise exceeding 80 decibels on the same meter between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. is likewise a violation. The article carves out specific exceptions in § 70-102: it does not apply to "Sound of Freedom" aircraft noise from the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, to vehicle horns used to warn of danger, or to equipment operated by federal, state, or local government, including emergency response, law enforcement, EMS, and fire district vehicles.

Enforcement runs through both the sheriff's department and Beaufort County Code Enforcement officers "duly commissioned by county council" under § 70-103(a), and every violation is heard in Beaufort County Magistrate Court rather than through an administrative ticket. Because the standard turns on "enforcement officers' discretion" in addition to the raw decibel reading, an officer's on-scene judgment about the noise's effect factors into whether a reading over the threshold is cited. The chapter reaches only unincorporated Beaufort County; Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Port Royal, and the City of Beaufort each enforce their own separate noise codes, and the rule does not extend onto federal property such as the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island.