Milwaukee, WI Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 101-20 says no person shall make unnecessary and annoying noises with a motor vehicle, and then names the ways a driver or owner can do that. The list is squealing tires, excessive acceleration of engine, emitting unnecessary and loud muffler noises, and suffering or permitting an unattended motor vehicle's audio alarm to be activated without evidence of tampering.

The wording sets a judgment standard, not a measured standard. The section as quoted contains no decibel reading, no distance test and no restricted hours, so it reads the same on a Milwaukee street at midday as it does late at night. The noise has to be both unnecessary and annoying. For mufflers the text uses its own pairing, unnecessary and loud, so the ordinary sound of a vehicle being driven is not what the section describes.

The alarm clause works differently because it reaches an owner who is not present. It covers an unattended vehicle whose audio alarm is activated without evidence of any tampering with the doors, locks, windows or any other part of the motor vehicle. An alarm that sounds because someone tampered with the car falls outside the ban, since evidence of tampering is the exact condition the ordinance names. An alarm that goes off with no sign of interference is what Milwaukee holds the owner responsible for, through the words suffering or permitting.

The penalty subsection applies to any person in violation of the section and takes effect upon conviction. The forfeiture is not less than $100 nor more than $200, together with the costs of prosecution, so the amount owed is more than the forfeiture figure alone. Jail is not a direct sentence for the noise. Confinement in the county jail or house of correction applies only in default of payment, lasts until the forfeiture and costs are paid, and cannot exceed 8 days.