Quiet hours in Kanawha County, WV — also called the noise ordinance, nighttime noise rules, or residential quiet time — define the hours during which excessive noise is prohibited.
In unincorporated Kanawha County there's no decibel code or fixed quiet hours; the Sheriff enforces West Virginia's disorderly-conduct law, W. Va. Code §61-6-1b, against unreasonably loud noise. Charleston sets its own city noise rules.
West Virginia sets no statewide decibel standard, and Kanawha County has no countywide noise ordinance for its unincorporated hollows and valleys. Instead the Kanawha County Sheriff enforces W. Va. Code §61-6-1b, which makes unreasonably loud noise intended to annoy or alarm a misdemeanor once an officer asks the person to stop. Inside city limits, Charleston (a Home Rule city and the state capital), St. Albans, South Charleston, Dunbar, and Nitro run their own noise codes with nighttime quiet periods. Sound carries far up the steep Kanawha and Elk River valleys, so what seems modest can reach a neighbor.
Under §61-6-1b, disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor: an officer must first request that you desist, and continued noise can bring confinement up to 24 hours or a fine up to $100.
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