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

Sec. 66-2, Creation of excessive noise with motor vehicle, sits in the traffic and vehicles chapter and applies countywide to unincorporated areas patrolled by the Sheriff's Office. The ordinance prohibits making unnecessary and annoying noise with a motor vehicle in three specific ways: squealing tires, excessive acceleration of the engine, and emitting unnecessary and loud muffler noises. It does not set a numeric decibel threshold; instead it bars the described driving behaviors outright, which lets a deputy cite a driver based on the conduct itself, such as a burnout or an unmuffled exhaust, without a sound meter reading.

The section traces back to Ord. No. 58 from 1978 and was amended twice more, in 2001 and 2003, without changing its core prohibitions. A companion section, Sec. 66-3, defines CTH and STH as county trunk highway and state trunk highway for purposes of the traffic chapter, which matters because many of the chapter's specific-street provisions, including speed and parking rules, are tied to those highway designations. Because Sec. 66-1 separately adopts the state's traffic statutes in Wis. chs. 340-349 by reference, a driver in Walworth County can also face state equipment violations, such as excessive muffler noise, under state law in addition to the county forfeiture in Sec. 66-2 for the same underlying conduct.