Fort Smith, AR Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Arkansas has no statewide quiet-hours statute; municipal authority to declare noise a nuisance comes from A.C.A. § 14-54-103 (general powers of cities and towns) and A.C.A. § 14-54-101 et seq. Fort Smith exercises that authority through Chapter 16 (Nuisances) of the Municipal Code, which the Neighborhood Services Division administers through the city's standard nuisance-abatement process: an investigator inspects the complaint, the city administrator (or designee) issues a written order to abate, and the property owner has seven (7) days to correct the condition before criminal charges and city-cost abatement begin (with abatement costs becoming a lien on the property). For most night-time noise complaints, however, the Fort Smith Police Department responds in real time under A.C.A. § 5-71-207, which makes it disorderly conduct to make 'unreasonable or excessive noise' with the purpose to cause public inconvenience or recklessly creating a risk of it. Officers commonly use this state-law tool because it is a Class C misdemeanor enforceable on view, without the need for a sound-level meter reading. There is no codified blanket 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. window in Fort Smith - the standard is contextual ('unreasonable for the time and place'), and the burden in court is on the prosecution to show that the noise was unreasonable under all the circumstances.