Columbia, Missouri: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes — a Solicitor's Permit, per rep. 'It shall be unlawful for any solicitor or canvasser...to engage in such business within the corporate limits of the city without first obtaining a permit' (§ 13-227(a)). The city's own page describes it as issued 'to an individual traveling "door-to-door" in residential neighborhoods with the intent to take orders for sale of goods, wares and merchandise...or services to be furnished or performed in the future.'
• Where it comes from: The Business License Administrator in the city's Finance Department, at the Business License Office, 701 East Broadway (§§ 13-228, 13-229).
• Fee: $20.00 application fee per solicitor, plus a separate criminal-background-check fee ($17 for a Missouri records check, more for out-of-state). 'The application shall be accompanied by a fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) plus a fee to cover costs incurred by the department of finance in obtaining the criminal record check' (§ 13-228(b)); 'The fee for a Missouri records check is $17,' per the city's own Solicitors Permits page. The business itself must also hold a separate city Business License before the solicitor's permit is issued.
• Hours you may knock: Not published. Neither the Solicitors and Canvassers article (§§ 13-226–13-235) nor the city's separate uninvited-solicitation nuisance ordinance (§ 16-161) sets a clock-time or sunset restriction for commercial door-to-door sales.
• What the rep carries: The permit card issued by the Business License Administrator, showing 'solicitor's permit,' the permit period and the permit number; 'solicitors and canvassers are required to exhibit their business permit cards at the request of any citizen' (§§ 13-230, 13-231). The city's page adds that the picture-I.D. permit card carries the city logo, the solicitor's photo, name and issue date.
• What takes the time: A criminal record check from the applicant's home state, obtained by the Business License Office after the applicant signs a disclosure/authorization form, plus a business-and-moral-character investigation before the permit is approved or denied (§ 13-229).
• Code: Columbia City Code, Chapter 13, Article VIII — Solicitors and Canvassers (§§ 13-226–13-235); the separate nuisance rule at § 16-161, Uninvited solicitation by peddlers, etc.
• Worth knowing: A posted 'No Soliciting' notice on a private residence is 'prima facie evidence' that solicitors were not invited, and being on that property uninvited to sell 'is hereby declared to be a nuisance...and is hereby prohibited' (§ 16-161(a)–(b)) — this nuisance rule is separate from, and in addition to, the permit requirement in Chapter 13.
• Read it yourself: Columbia City Code §§ 13-226–13-235, Solicitors and Canvassers · Columbia City Code § 16-161, Uninvited solicitation by peddlers, etc. · City of Columbia, Solicitors Permits · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: Are there any city-set hours for door-to-door commercial solicitation, even though none are written into Chapter 13 or §16-161? What is the current out-of-state criminal-records-check fee referenced in §13-228(b)? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________