Maine state law: quiet hours and statewide noise baseline

Under 17-A MRS Section 501-A, a person commits Class E disorderly conduct if they, in a public place, intentionally or recklessly cause annoyance by 'making loud and unreasonable noise, including noise from a personal audio system or from operating a sound-reproducing system,' or if, in a private place, they make loud and unreasonable noise audible to another person 'after having been ordered by a law enforcement officer to cease the noise.' The 2021 amendment added consumer-fireworks discharge as a basis for the offense. Maine has no statewide nighttime decibel cap and no statewide 10 PM-7 AM rule. Quiet-hours windows (typical Maine municipal pattern: 10 PM-7 AM weekdays, 11 PM-8 AM weekends) are adopted by each city or town under the broad home-rule grant of 30-A MRS Section 3001, which establishes a rebuttable presumption of validity for any municipal noise ordinance that does not 'frustrate the purpose of any state law.'

Class E crime under 17-A MRS Section 501-A: up to 6 months in jail and up to a $1,000 fine. Most enforcement is initiated by responding officer warning, then citation if noise continues; municipal noise ordinances typically carry separate civil fines of $100-$500 per occurrence.