Quiet hours in Harford County, MD — also called the noise ordinance, nighttime noise rules, or residential quiet time — define the hours during which excessive noise is prohibited.
Harford County Code § 193-8 prohibits voices, radios, instruments, and household tools between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. when audible more than 50 feet away on residential property. The state COMAR limit adds 55 dBA overnight.
Harford is a charter county, so it writes its own overnight quiet hours in Harford County Code § 193-8, enforced by the Sheriff's Office. From 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., noise from voices, radios, phonographs, musical instruments, or household equipment cannot be audible more than 50 feet away on residential property. Maryland delegates broader noise authority to the Department of the Environment under Md. Code, Env't § 3-401, and COMAR 26.02.03.02 caps continuous residential noise at 65 dBA day and 55 dBA night at the property line. Bel Air and Havre de Grace enforce their own municipal quiet-hour ordinances. Emergency, agricultural, and business operations are exempt.
A person who keeps making the noise after a law enforcement officer orders it stopped is subject to a civil fine under § 193-8.
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