Marathon County, WI Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Marathon County's Chapter 9 (Public Peace and Good Order) of the General Code of Ordinances adopts Wisconsin state criminal statutes, including the disorderly-conduct statute Wis. Stat. 947.01, which prohibits engaging in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct under circumstances that tend to cause or provoke a disturbance. There is no separate county-wide decibel limit and no codified quiet-hour window (e.g., 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.) in unincorporated Marathon County. Noise complaints in towns - whether loud parties, amplified music, vehicle stereos, ATV/UTV use, or industrial noise - are evaluated on a reasonableness standard by Marathon County Sheriff's Office deputies and may result in a citation under the adopted disorderly-conduct ordinance. Continuous, habitual barking dogs are addressed separately under public-nuisance principles and the dog-control framework. Cities and villages in Marathon County set their own noise rules: most municipalities follow common 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. nighttime quiet periods and prohibit unreasonable noise audible from a neighboring property. To file a noise complaint in unincorporated Marathon County, call the Sheriff's non-emergency line at 715.261.1200 or 911 if a disturbance is in progress. Construction noise on county or state highway projects in the county is governed by the project's permit conditions rather than a general noise ordinance.