Quiet hours in Yellowstone County, MT — also called the noise ordinance, nighttime noise rules, or residential quiet time — define the hours during which excessive noise is prohibited.
Unincorporated Yellowstone County sets no numeric quiet-hours ordinance; your city governs. In Billings (the county seat), maximum noise levels drop to nighttime limits between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. As a rule, avoid noise likely to draw a complaint during those hours.
Yellowstone County has adopted zoning for the unincorporated Billings fringe but no separate numeric quiet-hours noise code; enforcement of general noise falls to the incorporated city or state disturbing-the-peace law. The City of Billings, Montana's largest city, is the practical rulemaker. Under Billings City Code Table I (Sec. 17-103), the 'nighttime' window is 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., when the maximum permissible decibel limit in residential districts falls from 65 dB(A) daytime to 55 dB(A). Home repair, construction, and grounds maintenance are exempt only between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (Sec. 17-104).
Each violation is a misdemeanor subject to criminal penalties under Sec. 1-110; each day the noise continues is a separate offense, and it may be abated by injunction.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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