Jefferson County, WI Special Events & Permits: Park Event Permits (2026)

Sec. 12-23 of the Jefferson County Code requires a written permit from the county parks committee before any public meeting, assembly, music festival, rock festival or political event with an anticipated attendance over 20 persons can take place in a county park, on a recreation trail, or on any other property covered by the parks article, and even then only in the areas the committee designates. Before the committee will issue a permit, the applicant must disclose the anticipated number of attendees, the arrangements made for sanitation and garbage disposal, and whether an electrically amplified sound system will be used and at what output.

The committee then reviews the application against the park's existing facilities, traffic access, parking availability, adequate sanitation and waste disposal, adjacent land uses, and the effect the event would have on other lawful park users before deciding whether to approve it. It may attach conditions to the permit, including requiring the applicant to post reasonable security to cover costs the county might incur because of the event. The mechanics of applying run through the companion Sec. 12-22: applications must be in writing, addressed to the county parks committee, and delivered to the parks director's office, and the committee may set a schedule of permit fees.

Sections 12-19 and 12-20 place the parks committee in charge of supervising all county parks and recreation trails, including the authority behind this permit review. A group that gathers without the required permit, or exceeds the conditions of an issued permit, is subject to the general parks penalties in Sec. 12-34.