Walla Walla County, WA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Walla Walla County Code § 9.20.050 lists three separate vehicle-noise violations under its public disturbance noise ban. Subsection A prohibits 'the frequent, repetitive or continuous sounding of any horn or siren attached to a motor vehicle, except as a warning of danger or as specifically permitted or required by law.' Subsection B bars 'frequent, repetitive or continuous sounds in connection with the starting, operation, repair, rebuilding or testing of any motor vehicle, motorcycle, off-highway vehicle or internal combustion engine within a residential district' that unreasonably disturbs neighbors' peace and repose, covering everything from a loud aftermarket exhaust to a mechanic testing an engine in a driveway.

Subsection G separately reaches 'audio equipment, including portable equipment and equipment located in motor vehicles, such as radios, tape players or compact disc players, operated at a volume ... so as to be audible greater than seventy-five feet from the source of the sound,' the clause that covers a car stereo audible down the block. Section 9.20.060 exempts emergency vehicles and safety devices, and § 9.20.065 exempts noise from farm equipment used in agricultural production, which matters given the county's wine and wheat operations. The Sheriff's Office enforces under § 9.20.090; § 9.20.100 sets the penalty as a civil infraction up to $500 per separate infraction, and § 9.20.110 keeps the remedy cumulative with any other law.

As with all Chapter 9.20 provisions, this reaches only unincorporated roads and properties, not vehicles cited within Walla Walla, College Place, Waitsburg or Prescott city limits.