Las Cruces, NM Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Las Cruces regulates most noise, from loudspeakers to yelling to construction, under the general noise division at Secs. 19-121 through 19-135, which measures a violation by whether a sound is audible or its vibration can be felt from 30 or more feet away rather than with a decibel meter. The single place the Code sets an actual decibel number is the off-highway motor vehicle article of the traffic chapter. Sec. 9(A)(11) prohibits operating an off-highway motor vehicle, defined to include ATVs, off-highway motorcycles, snowmobiles, recreational off-highway vehicles and UTVs, that produces noise exceeding 96 decibels when measured using test procedures established by the society of automotive engineers pursuant to standard J-1287.

The same 96-decibel ceiling is repeated as a point-of-sale rule in subsection E: an off-highway motor vehicle cannot be sold or offered for sale in Las Cruces if it exceeds 96 decibels under the same SAE J-1287 test, unless the vehicle is sold exclusively for organized competition use. The operating limit sits alongside other Sec. 9 restrictions on the same vehicles, including a ban on riding within 200 feet of a business, animal shelter, horseback rider, bicyclist, pedestrian or occupied dwelling faster than ten miles per hour, and an equipment requirement for a US Forest Service-approved spark arrester.

Sec. 00, imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both, and a parent or guardian who knowingly lets a minor operate a vehicle in violation faces the identical penalty.