Hendersonville, TN Public Conduct: Loud Party Ordinance (2026)

Hendersonville's Title 11, Chapter 4, 'Offenses Against the Peace and Quiet,' opens with the general disturbing-the-peace prohibition at § 11-401, adopted by Ordinance 1970-33 in August 1970 and still in force. The section reaches both the person creating the disturbance, through 'violent, tumultuous, offensive, or obstreperous conduct,' and the person who controls the property where it happens: anyone who 'knowingly permits such conduct upon any premises owned or possessed by him or under his control' is separately liable. That second clause is the ordinance's host-liability hook, letting police cite a homeowner or tenant hosting an out-of-control gathering even when the individual guests who caused the trouble can't be identified or have already left.

Unlike the city's separate anti-noise regulations at § 11-402, which set specific quiet hours and list prohibited noises such as loud stereos or yelling between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., § 11-401 requires no decibel measurement and applies at any hour. A daytime brawl or a vandalism spree on a host's property can violate it just as easily as a 2:00 a.m. party.

Chapter 4 sets no standalone fine for § 11-401, so every conviction is capped at $50 under § 3-302(1)(a), the ceiling Tennessee Code Annotated § 6-54-308 sets for municipal ordinance violations. On top of that, § 3-302(2)(a) requires the City Judge to add $175 in court costs in every case heard and determined, two dollars of which is forwarded to the state treasurer under T.C.A. § 16-18-304(a) to fund training for municipal court judges and clerks.