Champaign County, IL Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Section 3.2.F of the county's Public Nuisance Ordinance sets the general nighttime noise standard for unincorporated Champaign County: noise discernable by a person of average sensibility inside any dwelling or lodging unit between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. is a public nuisance whenever its intensity, tone, characteristic, frequency of occurrence or duration is not customarily associated with the uses permitted in that zoning district. The section lists six illustrative sources without limiting the rule to them: construction; operation of powered tools or equipment; operation of motor vehicles or related equipment on private property; bells, sirens, whistles, horns or similar devices, except noncommercial unamplified bells or chimes; sound amplification devices; and keeping a domestic animal.

The curfew binds only unincorporated land; Champaign, Urbana, Rantoul, Savoy and Mahomet each administer separate noise codes inside their limits. Enforcement starts with a complaint to the Zoning Administrator or Sheriff, who investigates under Section 4.1 and, if substantiated, issues a notice of violation. The notice must give the responsible person and owner of record at least 15 days to abate the noise unless it is an ongoing activity, which the Zoning Administrator can order stopped immediately, or an imminent-peril case warranting immediate abatement (Section 4.3.D).

A first violation can be settled without a court appearance by paying the $100 minimum fine within 14 days of the notice (Sections 6.2.2, 6.3). If it is not settled, the Champaign County State's Attorney can file a complaint in circuit court, where the penalty runs $100 to $500 per offense for a first conviction and $200 to $500 for any subsequent one, and every day the noise recurs is a separate offense (Sections 6.1.B, 6.4). The county can also seek an injunction requiring compliance (Section 6.5).