Green Bay, Wisconsin: door-to-door solicitor permit

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages. The clerk questions below cover the gap.

• The answer: Yes — a solicitor's permit. No person shall engage in solicitation without a permit (10-271), and a solicitor is anyone going house-to-house selling or taking orders for goods, which the code defines to include personal services (10-269). The applicant presents his own photo ID, so it is per person (10-273(b)). A home visit specifically requested by the buyer is exempt (10-272(3)).
• Where it comes from: The City Clerk, on an application under oath; the Police Department reviews it first and may deny it for a false answer or a related conviction (10-273, 10-275).
• Fee: The code sends the fee to the City Fee Schedule (10-274). The fee schedule attached to the code on Municode, in its 2022 Fee column, lists the solicitor's permit at $25.00 for a temporary (30-day) permit and $100.00 for an annual permit, plus a canvasser, solicitor, peddler and direct seller's investigation fee of $5.00 (10-19). The city's current 2026 schedule could not be opened, so confirm the figures with the Clerk.
• Hours you may knock: No solicitation between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., except by appointment (10-277(6)).
• What the rep carries: The city permit, displayed on the person, and a government-issued photo ID, at all times while soliciting (10-277(2)).
• What takes the time: Police review of the application before the Clerk issues it (10-275). A denied applicant may not reapply for one year (10-275(d)). No processing time is published.
• Code: Green Bay Municipal Code, Chapter 10, Article V — Direct Sales (10-269 to 10-280). Municode shows the code codified through Ordinance No. 11-26, enacted July 21, 2026.
• Worth knowing: Right after the greeting, the rep must give his name, the company and what is being sold (10-277(1)). No calling where a "No Soliciting" or "No Peddlers" sign is displayed (10-277(3)), and reps must follow Wisconsin's home-solicitation rules in Wis. Stats. Ch. 423 (10-277(4)). A temporary permit runs 30 consecutive days; an annual permit runs through December 31 (10-274).
• Read it yourself: Green Bay Municipal Code, Chapter 10, Article V — Direct Sales · City of Green Bay Fee Schedule (attachment on Municode, 2022 Fee column) · Green Bay Code of Ordinances — landing page · checked 21 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• The current 2026 solicitor's permit fee, temporary and annual, and whether the $5.00 investigation fee still applies
• How many days police review usually takes
• Whether door-to-door service sales (fiber, solar, pest) are handled as solicitor's permits

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________