Rock County Board approves amended parks ordinance with new noise and camping language
February 26, 2026 | Rock County, Wisconsin
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The Rock County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 12 approved amendments to section 5.02 of the Rock County Code regulating county parks, including updates to job-title references, clarifications about camping and an adjusted noise regulation intended to address complaints about generators and sound equipment.
Parks manager (unnamed in the transcript) told the board the proposal primarily cleans up language and restores the manager title in the code after recent internal title changes. The manager said the ordinance adds clarity about "camping and or overnight sleeping amenities" to give staff a stronger basis to address day-use behavior such as campers running generators that disturb other park users.
At the committee's request, the board voted to strike the single word "truck" from the noise regulation after discussion that the term could be misread as referring to literal loud trucks rather than "sound trucks." "We were thinking as the committee was thinking as, like, an actual loud truck. But it was actually referencing sound trucks," the parks manager said when explaining the change. Supervisor Mooney moved to strike the word, and Supervisor Woodman seconded; the amendment passed by voice vote.
Supervisor Knutson moved to delete an erroneous effective-date clause that read "effective 01/01/2019" as cleanup; the board approved removing those words after confirming the correct historical reference. The board also approved changing a reference from "Rock County Sheriff's Department" to the formal title "Rock County Sheriff's Office" to match elected-office nomenclature.
Supervisor Stevens raised concerns about enforcement under the ordinance's "unreasonably loud" standard, asking how officers would apply a subjective standard in the field. The parks manager and other supervisors explained that sound ordinances historically rely on reasonableness rather than a decibel threshold: "If your noise is so loud that there are multiple people being disturbed by it, it's probably at an unreasonable level," one speaker said, noting environmental factors affect objective measurement.
After voting on the consolidated ordinance with the floor amendments, the board approved the parks changes by voice vote; one supervisor recorded a dissenting "nay." The ordinance will take effect according to the county's standard codification process unless otherwise specified in the revised text.
The parks ordinance amendment drew several procedural and clarifying changes but no separate referral or additional study motion; administrators and staff said they will continue to enforce the updated provisions in coordination with the sheriff's office and parks staff.
Parks manager (unnamed in the transcript) told the board the proposal primarily cleans up language and restores the manager title in the code after recent internal title changes. The manager said the ordinance adds clarity about "camping and or overnight sleeping amenities" to give staff a stronger basis to address day-use behavior such as campers running generators that disturb other park users.
At the committee's request, the board voted to strike the single word "truck" from the noise regulation after discussion that the term could be misread as referring to literal loud trucks rather than "sound trucks." "We were thinking as the committee was thinking as, like, an actual loud truck. But it was actually referencing sound trucks," the parks manager said when explaining the change. Supervisor Mooney moved to strike the word, and Supervisor Woodman seconded; the amendment passed by voice vote.
Supervisor Knutson moved to delete an erroneous effective-date clause that read "effective 01/01/2019" as cleanup; the board approved removing those words after confirming the correct historical reference. The board also approved changing a reference from "Rock County Sheriff's Department" to the formal title "Rock County Sheriff's Office" to match elected-office nomenclature.
Supervisor Stevens raised concerns about enforcement under the ordinance's "unreasonably loud" standard, asking how officers would apply a subjective standard in the field. The parks manager and other supervisors explained that sound ordinances historically rely on reasonableness rather than a decibel threshold: "If your noise is so loud that there are multiple people being disturbed by it, it's probably at an unreasonable level," one speaker said, noting environmental factors affect objective measurement.
After voting on the consolidated ordinance with the floor amendments, the board approved the parks changes by voice vote; one supervisor recorded a dissenting "nay." The ordinance will take effect according to the county's standard codification process unless otherwise specified in the revised text.
The parks ordinance amendment drew several procedural and clarifying changes but no separate referral or additional study motion; administrators and staff said they will continue to enforce the updated provisions in coordination with the sheriff's office and parks staff.
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