Lexington County, SC Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Section 26-32(a) makes it unlawful for anyone in the unincorporated areas of the county to willfully make or continue any loud, unnecessary and unusual noise that disturbs the peace and quiet of any residential area, incorporated or unincorporated, or that causes discomfort or annoyance to a person there. The ordinance lists the noise sources it covers: motor vehicles, motorboats, mechanical devices, electrical devices, electronic devices, the human voice, music, musical instruments, animals, and any activity accessory to residential living. Rather than setting a fixed nighttime curfew, Sec.

26-32(a) directs a court or other authority to weigh six factors when deciding whether a given noise violates the section: its intensity, the general characteristics of the area, the time of day or night it occurs, the reasonable expectation of quiet on the surrounding property, any previous complaints made to law enforcement, and, for vehicles and motorboats, whether they carry factory-level mufflers or suppression equipment. Sec. 26-31 defines a 'residential area' for this article as any area of the county containing single-family and multifamily dwellings, including houses, apartments, condominiums, mobile homes, and mobile home parks.

Sec. 26-33 assigns enforcement of the article to the county sheriff's deputies, not the Zoning Administrator. Sec. 26-34(a) makes a Sec. 26-32(a) violation a misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction by a fine up to the maximum allowed within the jurisdiction of the magistrate's court. A separate civil provision, Sec. 26-32(b), regulates fireworks hours and carries its own $150 civil fine under Sec. 26-34(b); Sec. 10 of the county zoning ordinance.