Benton County, WA Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)
Quiet hours in Benton County, WA, also called the noise ordinance, nighttime noise rules, or residential quiet time, define the hours during which excessive noise is prohibited.
Key Facts
- Governing sections
- BCC 6A.15.050(p), (q), 6A.15.040, 6A.15.070
- Protected hours for voices/yard equipment
- 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
- Effective quiet hours
- 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
- First-offense penalty
- Civil penalty up to $500 plus restitution
- Enforcing agency
- Benton County Sheriff's Office
Summary
Benton County has no numeric curfew list; instead its noise exemptions do the work. Unamplified voices and lawn or garden equipment are protected only from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. under BCC 6A.15.050, so noise from those sources between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. can be cited as a public nuisance.
6A.15.050 EXEMPTIONS. The following sounds are exempt from the provisions of this ordinance and are not public nuisance noises: ... (p) sounds created by unamplified human voices from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.; (q) sounds created by lawn and garden equipment from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.; (r) sounds created from farm animals. 6A.15.040 PUBLIC NUISANCE NOISE--UNLAWFUL. It is unlawful for any person to make, continue, or cause to be made or continued or to allow to originate from his or her personal or real property any public nuisance noise which: (a) is plainly audible within any dwelling unit which is not the source of the sound or is generated within two hundred (200) feet of any dwelling; and, (b) either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the health, comfort, repose, peace or safety of others.
Full Breakdown
Rather than setting an explicit curfew clause, Benton County's public nuisance noise ordinance builds quiet hours into its exemption list. BCC 6A.15.050(p) exempts sounds created by unamplified human voices only from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and BCC 6A.15.050(q) exempts sounds created by lawn and garden equipment on the same 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. schedule. Outside that sixteen-hour window, meaning between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., voices or yard equipment loud enough to meet the general public nuisance noise test in BCC 6A.15.040 lose their exemption and can be enforced against: unlawful noise is any sound plainly audible within a dwelling unit that isn't the source, or generated within 200 feet of any dwelling, that annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers someone's health, comfort, repose, peace or safety.
BCC 6A.15.050(r) separately and permanently exempts sounds from farm animals with no time restriction, reflecting the ordinance's stated intent in BCC 6A.15.010 not to interfere with farming, ranching or agricultural activity. The county sheriff and other law enforcement officers enforce the ordinance under BCC 6A.15.060, issuing a civil infraction notice on observation or witness report. BCC 6A.15.070 sets the penalty at a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation plus restitution for damages, escalating to a misdemeanor on a second or subsequent violation.
Violations & Fines
Unamplified voices or lawn and garden equipment noise that is plainly audible in a neighbor's dwelling, or within 200 feet of any dwelling, and that disturbs someone after 10:00 p.m. or before 6:00 a.m. loses its BCC 6A.15.050(p)/(q) exemption and violates BCC 6A.15.040; first offense draws a civil penalty up to $500, repeat violations are a misdemeanor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Benton County have set quiet hours?
Can I mow my lawn late at night in unincorporated Benton County?
What's the penalty for violating Benton County's nighttime noise rule?
Are farm sounds exempt from Benton County's quiet hours at any time?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Benton County
Compare Benton County to another location·View the Washington noise ordinances overview
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