Grant County, WI Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

The Grant County Board of Supervisors put the vehicle noise rule in Chapter 206, Peace and Good Order, as § 206-11, headed simply "Noise." The test is measurable: the sound from a radio or other electric sound amplification device in the vehicle must be clearly audible under normal conditions from a distance of 50 or more feet. The ordinance opens with a carve-out, "Except as provided in § 347.38(1), Wis. Stats.," so that state provision still applies alongside the county text.

The rule reaches three situations: operating the vehicle, parking it, and stopping or leaving it standing. A truck idling at a roadside in unincorporated Grant County with the stereo running is covered the same way a moving car is. One use of the device is outside the rule: a device used to request assistance or warn against an unsafe condition.

The County Board then printed six exemptions. The section does not apply to the operator of an authorized emergency vehicle when responding to an emergency call or when in the pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law or when responding to but not upon returning from a fire alarm; the operator of a vehicle of a public utility as defined in § 11.40, Wis. Stats.; the operator of a vehicle being used for advertising purposes; the activation of a theft alarm signal device; the operator of a motorcycle being operated outside of a business or residence district; and the operator of a vehicle being used in a community event or celebration, procession or assemblage.

Enforcement runs through § 206-17. The District Attorney's office is authorized to prosecute violations of the chapter, and any law enforcement officer of Grant County can issue a citation containing the information required by § 66.0113, Wis. Stats. The county code applies in unincorporated Grant County; Platteville, Lancaster, Boscobel, Fennimore, Cuba City and the villages have their own codes.