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

Racine County's published Code of Ordinances does not contain a stand-alone, county-wide noise/quiet-hours chapter governing unincorporated land. Instead, noise complaints in unincorporated parts of the county are handled under Wisconsin Statute § 947.01 (disorderly conduct), which makes it unlawful to engage in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud, or otherwise disorderly conduct under circumstances that tend to cause a disturbance. Wisconsin counties draw their police-power authority from Wis. Stat. § 59.69 (zoning) and § 59.03 (general powers), but Racine County has chosen to leave noise regulation primarily to its constituent towns and villages. Several Racine County towns have adopted their own public-disturbance noise ordinances. The Town of Dover ordinance, for instance, prohibits yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling, or singing on or near public streets between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., and bans vehicle stereos audible at more than 50 feet from the vehicle, audio equipment audible beyond 50 feet from the source, squealing tires, engine revving, and excessive muffler noise. Cities (Racine, Burlington) and villages (Mt. Pleasant, Caledonia, Sturtevant, Union Grove, Wind Point) have separate ordinances that supersede county-level enforcement inside their limits. Sheriff's deputies typically respond to a noise call by issuing a warning first; repeat offenses can result in a citation. Animal noise (barking dogs) is enforced separately under Chapter 4 of the county code.