Baltimore County, MD Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Article 13, Title 11, Subtitle 1 of the Baltimore County Code defines a "public nuisance alarm" as a residential, commercial, or automotive burglary or robbery alarm system with an audible noise enunciator, including horns, bells, or sirens, that sounds continuously past a set duration. The clock depends on the hour. Between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the trigger is more than 2 hours of continuous sounding. Between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. the trigger is more than 4 hours.

Section 13-11-102 then puts the duty on the person: nobody may allow a public nuisance alarm to be maintained on the person's property or in the person's vehicle. Under § 13-11-101(b), "person" includes a lessee, so a renter or lease driver answers for the alarm the same way an owner does. The penalty is civil, not criminal: not less than $50 and not more than $500 for each offense.

The county has a defined path to silence an alarm that no one answers. Once the police confirm the conditions presently exist, the Chief of Police or the Chief's designee must make reasonable attempts to notify the person who owns or leases the property or vehicle. If those attempts fail, the Chief or designee can ask a court of competent jurisdiction for an order to enter and abate the alarm. With that order, the police can use any reasonable means and enlist reasonable assistance to enter the vehicle and silence the alarm. They must make all reasonable efforts to minimize damage and take reasonable measures to secure the vehicle afterward, and they must leave a "notice to the owner or lessee" in a conspicuous place with a telephone number for further information.

The separate false alarm subtitle does not reach car alarms. Section 13-11-201 excludes from "alarm system" any device installed in a vehicle as defined in the state Transportation Article, so vehicle alarms are handled only through the nuisance rules above.