Jessamine County, KY Right to Farm: Farm Nuisance Protection (2026)

Chapter 92 is titled the Noise Control Ordinance of Jessamine County, and § 92.03 applies it to all sound originating within the limits of the jurisdiction. Section 92.20 then carves out agriculture: noise disturbance created by farm livestock, the operation of farm machinery or noise caused by other activities relating to an agricultural operation is exempt from the chapter. That means the 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. rules, the L50 sound duration test and the general ban on unreasonably loud noise in § 92.35 are not available against a barn, a tractor or a livestock operation.

Section 92.19 adds a second, equipment-based exemption. It says nothing in KRS 224.30-100 to 224.30-190 applies to farm tractors or other farm machinery, equipment or vehicles primarily designed or used for off-public highway use, and it is construed to exclude only vehicles not required to be licensed for use on public highways.

The chapter defines its farm terms in § 92.04. FARM is a tract of land devoted to agricultural purposes, and FARM LIVESTOCK means animals on a farm kept or raised for use and profit. AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY is a separate defined term: a parcel of real property of not less than 10 contiguous acres which is undeveloped for any use other than agricultural purposes. The text of § 92.20 uses the words farm livestock and agricultural operation rather than agricultural property, so the 10-acre figure is defined but is not written into the exemption itself.

The same protection appears in the animal-noise rule. Section 92.36(C), which reaches howling, barking and similar sounds, states that it does not apply to farm livestock, public animal shelters or public zoos. Sewer connection sits in a different chapter: § 51.10(D) exempts farmsteads, as defined by KRS 211.015(1)(b), from the mandatory sewer connection chapter, although the Jessamine County Health Officer's determination of a health hazard lets the sewer district direct connection where technically feasible.