Kenosha, WI Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Section 23.04 declares "noise" as defined in Chapter XXIII a public nuisance subject to abatement. The core nighttime curfew sits in Section 23.05.B.1.a: it is a violation to operate a "radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instruments, sound amplifier, or similar device" between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day "in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance across a real property boundary," unless the activity is open to the public and covered by a Department of Public Works permit under Section 23.06's criteria.

Loudspeakers and PA systems used noncommercially get a slightly different overnight window under Section 23.05.B.2.a, running 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., while commercial loudspeaker use adds a separate 5:00 p.m.-to-8:00 a.m. restriction on public rights-of-way and spaces. Powered model vehicles cannot create a disturbance in a residential area or noise-sensitive zone between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. under Section 23.05.B.3. Beyond the disturbance-based curfew, Section 23.06's Table 1 imposes an objective decibel ceiling: sound reaching residential, public space, open space, agricultural or institutional zoning districts is capped at 50 dBA between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., versus 60 dBA during the day, measured at the receiving property's boundary with a sound level meter per the standards in Section 23.07.

Nighttime residential air conditioner noise gets its own stricter rule in Section 23.10: no unit may create sound in a sleeping room "in excess of five (5) decibels above the ambient noise level." Construction, public utility and public works noise is exempt from the daytime criteria Monday through Saturday under Section 23.09.A but is not exempted from the nighttime curfew provisions, and lawn/garden power equipment is barred from operating between 9:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. under Section 23.09.D. Enforcement is split under Section 23.03: the Police Department handles complaints outside regular City Hall hours, the Health Department during them.

Violations carry the Chapter IV penalty incorporated by Section 23.19: a forfeiture of not less than $25 nor more than $500, plus prosecution costs, with County Jail commitment up to 60 days on default of payment.