Spalding County, GA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Sec. 7-1012(a) defines "jake brake," "jacob brake," and "engine brake" as engine brakes or compression release engine brakes used to slow large vehicles or heavy equipment, the loud, compression-release exhaust noise most associated with tractor-trailers and other heavy trucks descending grades. Subsection (b) then makes it "unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any person to use" any of those devices "on the public roads of Spalding County, Georgia," a countywide, all-hours prohibition with no exception for time of day, road type, or grade.

The ban was added by Ord. No. 2007-07 on June 4, 2007; an editor's note in the code explains the ordinance was originally intended as Sec. 7-1011 but was renumbered to Sec. 7-1012 for clarity. Subsection (c) ties enforcement to the general Chapter 7 traffic penalty at Sec. 7-1008, which makes any violation of the chapter punishable by a fine or imprisonment, or both, up to the maximum allowed under Georgia law and Sec. 1-1007 of the county code, with each day a violation continues counted as a separate offense.

Because the rule is a use ban rather than a decibel standard, county code enforcement or the sheriff's office does not need a sound meter reading to cite a driver: engaging the compression-release brake on a Spalding County public road is itself the violation, regardless of how loud a particular truck's exhaust brake actually is on that occasion.