Washington County, WI Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Washington County Code § 172-7A sets the general rule: no person may make, continue, or cause to be made any loud, disturbing or unnecessary sound that tends to annoy or disturb a person of ordinary sensibilities in or about a public street, alley, park, or private residence. Subsection B then lists specific acts the County has already declared to be loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise, without limiting the general rule to only those acts. Among them, § 172-7B(2) targets radios, phonographs and similar devices: operating one so it is plainly audible at the property line of the building, structure or vehicle where it sits, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., is prima facie evidence of a violation, meaning the County does not have to prove anything more once that fact is shown.

Section 172-7C exempts County, state, city, village and town vehicles and machinery on necessary public business, nighttime street excavation and repair when daytime work is impractical, emergency equipment such as ambulances, police, fire, snow removal and civil defense vehicles, snowblowers and snowplows, and implements of husbandry used for agricultural purposes. Violations of § 172-7 are enforced under § 172-23 through the Chapter 1 General Penalty, a forfeiture of not less than $10 nor more than $2,000 plus court costs, with up to 90 days in the County Jail if the forfeiture and costs are not paid, and citations are issued under the uniform citation method of § 172-22.