Sumter County, FL Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Adopted as the Sumter County Noise Control Ordinance under Ord. No. 2001-6, Article VI of Chapter 16 applies throughout the unincorporated residential areas of the county and is enforced by the Sumter County Sheriff's Office. Sec. 16-106 defines a 'noise disturbance' broadly, first as any sound excessive enough to injure life or property, or to unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life, property, or business, or detectable by a considerable number of people so as to harm public health, repose, or safety. Beyond that general standard, subsection (5) adds a hard number: a noise source on any property counts as a prohibited noise disturbance if it produces decibel levels greater than sixty decibels in a residential or multifamily residential neighborhood, measured at a point one thousand feet from the source, regardless of how the source property itself is zoned.

Decibel readings must be taken by a Sheriff's Office deputy using equipment built for decibel measurement. Subsection (4) also lists factors the enforcing authority can weigh case by case, including the time of day, how close the noise is to residential structures, whether it recurs or is constant, its volume and intensity, and whether it has been amplified electronically or mechanically. Sec. 16-107 requires the sheriff's office to give a verbal warning first and document it in an offense report; only a repeat disturbance from the same party within one hundred twenty days skips straight to a penalty.