Columbia County, FL Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Columbia County's general nighttime quiet-hours protection lives in two paired subsections of Sec. 74-105. Subsection (g) bars the unreasonably loud and raucous use of a loudspeaker, amplifier, public address system or similar device between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays, and between 10:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. on weekends and holidays, when the device is within or adjacent to a residential or noise-sensitive area, or when it is plainly audible across the property line of a public space. Subsection (i) covers human sound directly: yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing in residential or noise-sensitive areas or in public places during that same 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. window, or at any time or place if it unreasonably disturbs the quiet, comfort or repose of reasonable persons.

Both subsections sit inside Article V, adopted by Ord. No. 2020-07 on August 6, 2020, which Sec. 74-101 justifies as necessary to protect the peace, health and repose of county residents from loud and raucous noise. A permit for a public performance, gathering or parade removes conduct from subsection (g)'s reach under its own text. The Columbia County Sheriff's Office enforces both subsections under Sec. 74-108 and may pursue a warning before a citation. A violation of either subsection is a civil infraction under Sec.

74-109(a), fined up to $500.00, and Sec. 74-109(b) allows each night the conduct recurs to be cited as a new, separate offense. Article V, per Sec. 74-102, applies only outside the City of Lake City's municipal limits.