Henrico County, VA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)
Key Facts
- Audibility threshold
- 50 feet outside the vehicle
- First offense fine
- up to $500
- Second offense fine
- up to $1,000 within 5 years
- Third offense fine
- up to $2,500 within 10 years
- Ice cream truck exception
- 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. only
- Enforcing agency
- Henrico Division of Police
- Charging requirement
- officer witness or magistrate summons
Summary
Henrico County makes it unlawful to play a car stereo, radio or other sound-amplifying device inside or on a motor vehicle loud enough to be heard 50 feet away, at any hour of the day. Fines start at $500 and climb sharply for repeat offenses. Ice cream trucks get a narrow carve-out between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Amplified sound from vehicles. Playing, using or operating, or permitting the playing, use or operation of, any radio, stereo, tape player, compact disc player, loudspeaker or other electronic device or mechanical equipment used for the amplification of sound, which is located on or within a motor vehicle and which is plainly audible from outside the motor vehicle at a distance of 50 feet or more. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to the playing of music or jingles by an ice cream truck or similar mobile food service vehicle, provided such vehicle may emit sounds otherwise prohibited by this subsection only between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Full Breakdown
Henrico County Code § 10-68(7) makes it unlawful to play, use or operate any radio, stereo, tape player, compact disc player, loudspeaker or other electronic or mechanical sound-amplification equipment located on or within a motor vehicle if it is plainly audible from 50 feet or more outside the vehicle. Unlike several of the county's other noise categories, this rule carries no nighttime window: a stereo that carries 50 feet violates the section at 2 p.m. or 2 a.m. The only carve-out written into the subsection covers ice cream trucks and similar mobile food vehicles, which may play music or jingles that would otherwise violate the rule, but only between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
The vehicle-noise rule sits inside § 10-68's broader list of prohibited noises, which also reaches loud parties, barking animals and late-night lawn equipment; enforcement across all of them runs through § 10-67. A person cannot be charged unless a complainant swears out a complaint before a magistrate and requests a summons, or a police officer witnesses the violation directly. Section 10-69 separately exempts car alarms and burglar alarms from any noise charge, but only until the owner has been given notice and a reasonable chance to silence the alarm. A vehicle with a defective muffler or gutted exhaust is covered by a different provision, § 22-36, not this section.
Henrico Police, not animal control or code enforcement, handle vehicle-noise complaints under this chapter, since the violation turns on what a bystander can hear rather than on an equipment inspection.
Violations & Fines
A first conviction under § 10-68 draws a fine up to $500. A second conviction within five years of the first draws up to $1,000, and a third within ten years of the first draws up to $2,500. Each day the amplified sound continues is a separate offense, so a repeat pattern of loud stereo use can stack multiple citations. Criminal prosecution does not bar the county from pursuing any other remedy the county code or Code of Virginia allows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Henrico's loud-stereo rule only apply at night?
Can I be ticketed if no officer heard my stereo?
What if my car alarm goes off, not my stereo?
Is a loud exhaust covered by this same rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Henrico County
Compare Henrico County to another location·View the Virginia noise ordinances overview
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