Richland County, SC Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)
Quiet hours in Richland County, SC, also called the noise ordinance, nighttime noise rules, or residential quiet time, define the hours during which excessive noise is prohibited.
Key Facts
- Yard-tool curfew
- 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
- General standard
- Plainly audible at 50 feet
- Complaint threshold
- 3+ residents or 1 + sheriff
- Maximum fine
- $500.00 per offense
- No time limit
- Construction, industrial, farm noise
- Enforced by
- Sheriff's Dept, code enforcement officers
Summary
Richland County limits noisy yard equipment like mowers, chainsaws and grinders to the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. under Code Sec. 18-3(c)(2)(ii), while a broader nuisance-noise standard bans any sound plainly audible 50 feet away at any hour if it disturbs others. The Sheriff's Department enforces both, with fines up to $500 per offense.
(c) Noise. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue, or cause to be continued, any loud, excessive, unnecessary, or disturbing noise, or any noise which either annoys, disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others, within the limits of the unincorporated area of the county, except where the activity generating the noise is permitted by lawful authority (e.g., a permitted event). (2) A loud, excessive, unnecessary, or disturbing noise is defined as any sound regulated by paragraph (1) above, which is plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet from its source... ii. Noise from domestic power equipment including, but not limited to, chain saws, sanders, grinders, lawn and garden tools or similar devices operated after 6:00 a.m. and no later than 10:00 p.m.... This section shall be enforced by the Richland County Sheriffs Department and by any Richland County code enforcement officer commissioned pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. Section 4-9-145. Violations of this section shall be punishable by a fine of up to $500.00. Each violation shall constitute a separate offense.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-24: This supplement is current through Ordinance No. 033-25HR).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 18's noise section combines a round-the-clock nuisance standard with a narrower quiet-hours curfew for yard and shop tools. Subsection (c)(1) makes it unlawful at any time to make or continue any loud, excessive, unnecessary or disturbing noise that annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others in the unincorporated county, unless the noise comes from an activity permitted by lawful authority. Subsection (c)(2) defines that standard objectively: a sound is loud or disturbing if it is plainly audible at 50 feet from its source.
m. and it loses its exemption and falls back under the general 50-foot nuisance standard. Other listed exemptions, construction and demolition equipment, mineral extraction, industrial and manufacturing noise, emergency repair work, government-sponsored and school or church activities, licensed hunting, and agricultural work, carry no time-of-day limit at all. Subsection (c)(3) gives the sheriff an evidentiary shortcut: complaints from three or more people, or one complaint combined with the sheriff's own observation, is prima facie evidence of a violation. Subsection (c)(4) declares noise violating the section a public nuisance abatable by any law enforcement officer or commissioned code enforcement officer. C. Code Ann. 00 per offense, with each violation a separate offense.
Violations & Fines
A citation under Sec. 18-3(c) carries a fine of up to $500.00 per offense, and each occurrence, including each night a mower runs past 10 p.m., is charged as its own separate offense. The sheriff can act on a single officer-observed violation or on complaints from three or more residents; there's no mandatory warning before a citation issues.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time can I mow my lawn or use a leaf blower in unincorporated Richland County?
Is there a blanket nighttime quiet hour for all noise in Richland County?
Can construction crews work overnight without violating the noise ordinance?
How does the sheriff prove a noise complaint in Richland County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Richland County
How Richland County compares: Cities with the Strictest Noise Ordinances·Compare Richland County to another location·View the South Carolina noise ordinances overview
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