Modoc County, CA Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Research of the Modoc County Code (codified through Ordinance No. 325-A, Jan. 2026) found no chapter setting general nighttime quiet hours for the unincorporated county, which covers communities such as Cedarville, Newell, Adin, Canby, Lookout, Fort Bidwell, Likely, Davis Creek, Lake City and California Pines. Title 9 (Public Peace, Morals and Welfare) contains only peace-officer training and military-equipment provisions, not a noise chapter. Instead, loud or disturbing noise is addressed case by case through Chapter 8.20, Nuisance Abatement and Civil and Criminal Penalties for Code Violations (Ord. No. 308-B, 2017). Section 8.20.020 makes any act that is unlawful, an offense, or a public nuisance known at common law subject to abatement, with administrative citations, board hearings and cost recovery, and Section 8.20.145 allows treble abatement costs for repeat nuisances under Government Code Section 25845.5. There is one quantitative standard in the code: zoning Section 18.100.010 limits home occupations to 55 decibels at the lot line. For ordinary nighttime noise, residents rely on the Sheriff and on California Penal Code Section 415, which addresses loud and unreasonable noise that disturbs the peace. Alturas, the county's only incorporated city, has its own separate rules.