Minnehaha County, SD Noise Ordinances: Outdoor Music (2026)

Outdoor amplified music in unincorporated Minnehaha County is regulated indirectly. A barn-wedding venue, vineyard, golf course, or rural event center that hosts amplified events must operate under a Minnehaha County Zoning Ordinance use approval — typically a conditional-use permit issued by the county Board of Adjustment under SDCL 11-2-49, with conditions that may include noise-related limits (cut-off times, speaker direction, indoor-only after a certain hour). The county does not issue stand-alone 'sound permits' the way many large metro cities do; conditions live inside the CUP itself. SDCL 22-18-35 makes 'unreasonable loud noise' a Class 2 misdemeanor regardless of whether amplification is involved; SDCL 21-10-1 supplies a civil nuisance cause of action for downwind neighbors of an event venue. Inside Sioux Falls city limits, Sioux Falls Code Title 130 (Offenses) and the city special-event permit process at City Clerk control outdoor concerts — Sioux Falls hosts JazzFest, Sidewalk Arts, Levitt at the Falls and other amplified events under city permits. Brandon, Hartford, Dell Rapids, Crooks, Garretson, Humboldt, Sherman, and Valley Springs each maintain their own city-permit regimes. The South Dakota Constitution Article VI § 5 (right of assembly) and the First Amendment limit how strictly amplified speech can be controlled by content; time/place/manner restrictions remain permissible.