The Currituck County Board of Commissioners adopted on second reading an amendment to the county noise ordinance to add a criminal penalty, the board announced at its June 11 meeting.

County legal staff told the board the amendment updates Chapter 9, Article 2, Sections 9-32 through 9-39 of the county code to include a criminal violation provision that is required by recent state guidance. "This is the ordinance that was before you at the last board meeting. It just adds a criminal penalty as a violation to the noise ordinance because pursuant to Senate Bill 300, if there's gonna be a criminal penalty, it has to be within each section of the ordinance," the county attorney said during the second reading.

Why it matters: Senate Bill 300 requires criminal penalties to be explicitly included in the relevant sections of an ordinance when a jurisdiction elects to make a violation criminal. The board completed the statutorily required second reading and adopted the amendment by voice vote.

Process and vote: the ordinance required two readings because of the criminal penalty; after a motion and second, the board voted "Aye" by voice and the motion carried.

Ending: The ordinance amendment will be recorded in the county code as adopted and becomes part of the countys enforcement options for noise violations.