Noise ordinances › Lexington, KY

Lexington noise ordinance: quiet hours, limits and complaints

Last updated: October 1, 2026

Documenting this? A dated log of when the noise started, when it stopped and how loud it got is what Lexington acts on. Log noise levels for a complaint — free, runs in your browser, records no audio.

Quiet hours in Lexington

Lexington's clock starts at 11:00 p.m. and applies only to the activities Sec. 14-72 ties to hours, each of which must still create a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary (for model vehicles, alternatively in a public place): tools or equipment used in construction, drilling or demolition, 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., except emergency work of public service utilities or work under a special variance from the Mayor (14-72(2)); outdoor mechanically powered saws, drills, sanders, grinders, lawn and garden tools and lawnmowers, 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. and also before 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with powered snow removal equipment excepted (14-72(3)); loading, unloading and handling boxes, crates, building materials or garbage cans, 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. (14-72(4)); refuse collection, 11:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. (14-72(5)); loudspeakers, public address systems and mobile sound vehicles used for a noncommercial purpose, 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. (14-72(6)(b)); and powered model vehicles, 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. (14-72(7)). The other listed acts carry no hours and are judged the same way at any time of day: radios, televisions, drums, musical instruments and similar devices (14-72(8)), rotating or reciprocating machinery (14-72(1)), repairing or testing motor vehicles and motorboats (14-72(9)), animals (14-72(10)) and vehicle sound systems on public property (14-72(11)); the general rule in 14-71 has no hours either. Commercial loudspeakers on a public right-of-way or public space are prohibited at every hour (14-72(6)(a)).

Decibel limits — or rather, the lack of them

There are none. Secs. 14-70 through 14-80 contain no decibel figure, no zone table and no measurement procedure, and a full-text search of the Urban County's Code of Ordinances and Zoning Ordinance on Municode for "decibel" and "dBA" returns no hits. The standard is the "noise disturbance" defined in 14-70: any sound that (a) endangers or injures the safety or health of humans or animals, (b) annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities, or (c) endangers or injures personal or real property. Sec. 14-71 prohibits a noise disturbance on or across a public right-of-way or public place (noncommercial public speaking and assembly excepted), and Sec. 14-72 declares eleven numbered acts violations, most of them judged by whether the sound creates a noise disturbance "across a dwelling unit boundary", which 14-70 defines to include the walls, ceilings and floors between units in a building and, for a detached home, the real property boundary line of the unit. The only distance test in Secs. 14-70 through 14-80 is for vehicle sound systems on public streets or rights-of-way or other public property, including parks and public parking lots run by the urban county government or LexPark: a noise disturbance "audible to a person of normal hearing sensitivity more than ten (10) feet from such vehicle," where words need not be discernible and bass reverberation counts (14-72(11)). Engine brakes are judged by the same noise-disturbance definition, repeated in Sec. 18-40(b). Do not attribute a decibel limit to Lexington.

What the ordinance actually says

Sec. 14-70: "Noise disturbance means any sound which: (a) Endangers or injures the safety or health of humans or animals; (b) Annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities; or (c) Endangers or injures personal or real property."

Sec. 14-71: "In addition to the specific prohibitions outlined in section 14-72, no person shall make, continue, or cause to be made, continued or permitted any noise disturbance on or across a public right-of-way or a public place. This section shall not apply to noncommercial public speaking and public assembly activities conducted on any public space or public right-of-way."

Sec. 14-72(2): "Operating or permitting the operation of any tools or equipment used in construction, drilling or demolition work between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., prevailing local time, such that the sound therefrom creates a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary, except for emergency work of public service utilities or by special variance as provided for in section 14-74. This paragraph shall not apply to the use of domestic power tools subject to subsection (3) of this section."

Sec. 14-72(3): "Operating or permitting the operation of any mechanically powered saw, drill, sander, grinder, lawn or garden tool, lawnmower or other similar device used outdoors that creates a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary other than powered snow removal equipment, between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., prevailing local time, or on Saturday or Sunday before the hour of 9:00 a.m., prevailing local time."

Sec. 14-72(8): "Operating, playing or permitting the operation or playing of any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument or similar device in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary."

Sec. 14-72(11): "Consistent with the other provisions of sections 14-70 through 14-80 of the Code, and in addition thereto, no person shall use or operate any radio, stereo, tape player, record player, compact disc player or any similar device for the producing, reproducing or amplification of sound in or on any vehicle located within or on the public streets or rights-of-way or within or on any other public property, including, but not limited to parks, or public parking lots operated by the urban county government or the Lexington and Fayette County Parking Authority/LexPark, in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance that is audible to a person of normal hearing sensitivity more than ten (10) feet from such vehicle. Words and phrases need not be discernible for said sound to be "audible", and said sound shall include bass reverberation."

Sec. 14-80: "Any person who violates any provision of sections 14-70 through 14-80 shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00). Any person found guilty of a second offense of any of these sections within any twelve-month period shall be subject to a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), and any person found guilty of a third offense of any of these sections within any twelve-month period shall be subject to a fine of not less than two hundred-fifty dollars ($250.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00)."

Quoted verbatim from the official codified text (Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Code of Ordinances, Chapter 14 "Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions," Secs. 14-70 through 14-80 (Ord. No. 115-82, § 1, 7-1-82; amended by Ord. No. 164-82, Ord. No. 23-83, Ord. No. 216-90, Ord. No. 5-91, Ord. No. 192-92, Ord. No. 293-2000 and Ord. No. 162-2012, §§ 1, 2, 12-6-12): 14-70 definitions, 14-71 noise disturbances generally, 14-72 specific acts, 14-73 right of entry, 14-74 special variances, 14-75 order of abatement, 14-76 citation, 14-77 effect on existing law, 14-78 exceptions, 14-79 other laws not affected, 14-80 penalty; with Sec. 14-96 "Lexington Area Party Plan" (Ord. No. 315-2001), Sec. 18-40 engine brakes (Ord. No. 57-2012) and Sec. 4-12 noisy animals. Text read on Municode (library.municode.com, the code host the Urban County Government's own website links to; republication codified through Ord. No. 048-2025) on 2026-10-01.). Verified against the live code on 2026-10-01. Ordinances get amended — before acting on a specific provision, check the linked official code. This page is a plain-language summary, not legal advice.

How to file a noise complaint in Lexington

Per lexingtonky.gov, Lexington Police, "When and how to contact the police": "For non-emergencies, call (859) 258-3600"; the page lists "Dog barking" and "Loud music" among the non-emergencies for that line, says officers respond 24 hours a day, and reserves 911 for emergencies such as a crime in progress. The City's "Being a good neighbor" page links Secs. 14-71 (noise) and 14-72 (barking dogs) as "good neighbor ordinances," and the Department of Public Safety page links an online "Noise variance application" for the special variances the Mayor or a designee may grant under Sec. 14-74. Enforcement is by urban county law enforcement officers, who may issue a citation (14-76) or, in lieu of a citation, an order for immediate abatement (14-75), and who may enter premises to investigate with the occupant's permission or a search warrant (14-73). Fines are $50 to $500, $100 to $500 for a second offense within twelve months and $250 to $500 for a third (14-80).

Step by step, with what to log and what to expect after you file: how to file a noise complaint in Lexington. For the general playbook — documenting the problem, talking to a landlord or HOA, when 311 beats 911 — see the noise complaints guide.

Worth knowing

(1) There is no decibel number in Lexington's noise sections, and a full-text search of the Code of Ordinances and the Zoning Ordinance on Municode finds none elsewhere; summaries that quote a dB limit for Lexington are not describing the codified text. (2) Two boundaries do the work: the general rule in 14-71 reaches a noise disturbance on or across a public right-of-way or public place, while most of the listed acts in 14-72 turn on a "dwelling unit boundary," which includes the shared walls, ceilings and floors of an apartment building, so a neighbor through the wall is covered the same way as a neighbor across the yard. (3) Night starts at 11:00 p.m., and only for tools, loading, refuse trucks, noncommercial loudspeakers and model vehicles; music and televisions (14-72(8)) have no quiet hours and are judged by the reasonable-person test at any time. (4) Weekend mowing and power tools are held until 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, two hours later than on weekdays (14-72(3)). (5) Commercial loudspeakers on a public right-of-way or public space are banned outright, with no disturbance required (14-72(6)(a)), while noncommercial public speaking and assembly on public space is carved out of the general rule (14-71). (6) The 10-foot car-stereo rule covers parked as well as moving vehicles on public streets, parks and public lots, counts bass reverberation, and does not require the words to be intelligible (14-72(11)). (7) Officers may order immediate abatement instead of citing (14-75), and a person acting in good faith to comply with an abatement order is not to be cited (14-76). (8) Repeat parties carry their own scheme: under the Lexington Area Party Plan (14-96) a dwelling with two enforcement actions (citations or arrests) in one year is certified a "no party property" for a year, posted with a sticker, and an occupant who then allows unlawful activity leading to another enforcement action is fined $50 to $500, rising for second and third offenses. (9) Engine brakes that cause a noise disturbance are prohibited except on limited-access highways, $50 to $500 per offense (18-40). (10) Exceptions (14-78) cover emergency signals and work, organized school-related programs, parades and public events authorized by the Mayor, police firearms, and the operation and maintenance of aircraft on and off airport property. (11) Alarm rules look inconsistent: an alarm user must adjust an exterior audible alarm to sound for no longer than ten minutes (13-72.3(e)), while Sec. 13-74 requires systems installed on or after April 17, 1983 to have an automatic shutoff within thirty minutes. (12) Sec. 4-12 separately bans bellowing livestock outside agricultural zones; the codified text still shows a $5 to $15 fine, but Ord. No. 076-2025 (adopted 9-11-2025, effective 11-1-2025), listed among Municode's not-yet-codified ordinances, raises it to not more than $100.

Document it before you report it

Lexington enforces mostly by audibility, but a log of measured levels still makes a complaint concrete and credible. Take a quick reading with the free online decibel meter — it runs in your browser and records nothing — and check how loud your block is on the Lexington noise map. For time-stamped measurement history you can show a landlord or code officer, the app keeps a log.