Quiet hours in Sutter, CA — also called the noise ordinance, nighttime noise rules, or residential quiet time — define the hours during which excessive noise is prohibited.
Unincorporated Sutter County has not adopted a general noise ordinance, so there are no fixed countywide "quiet hours" with set decibel limits. Loud, disturbing noise is instead handled as disturbing the peace under California Penal Code 415, enforced by the Sheriff.
Sutter County government regulates the unincorporated communities (such as Sutter, Robbins, Rio Oso, Pleasant Grove, Meridian, Nicolaus, Tudor, East Nicolaus, and Trowbridge) rather than the incorporated cities of Yuba City or Live Oak, which have their own codes. A 2010 noise study prepared for the California Public Utilities Commission, covering Butte, Yuba, and Sutter counties, states plainly that "Sutter County has not adopted a noise ordinance, and noise due to construction activity is not addressed." That means the county has no code section establishing nighttime quiet hours, daytime versus nighttime decibel caps, or a curfew on residential noise the way many cities do. The county's policy framework instead lives in the General Plan noise element, whose goal is "to protect county residences from the harmful effects of exposure to excessive noise," applied mainly through land-use compatibility review of new development rather than through citation of an existing neighbor. For an ongoing nuisance, the practical tool is California Penal Code 415, "disturbing the peace," which makes it an offense to maliciously and willfully disturb another person by loud and unreasonable noise. Residents who experience persistent late-night noise generally contact the Sutter County Sheriff's Office, which can respond and, where warranted, cite the responsible party.
There is no county quiet-hours ordinance to violate. Loud and unreasonable noise that maliciously and willfully disturbs another person can be cited as disturbing the peace under California Penal Code 415, punishable by up to 90 days in county jail, a fine of up to $400, or both; as an infraction the fine can be up to $250 with no jail.
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