Madison, Wisconsin: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes. A Solicitor’s Permit from the City Clerk, and it is personal: “Each solicitor or canvasser must secure a personal permit.” It covers going house to house to canvass for orders for goods or “services of any character” (9.14(1), (7)). The Clerk’s form says this permit is for offering a service face to face; reps selling goods in hand fall under the peddler license instead (9.15).
• Where it comes from: Madison City Clerk, 210 MLK Jr Blvd, Room 103. The Chief of Police runs the investigation and endorses the application (9.14(5)).
• Fee: $110 per applicant, nonrefundable, paid to the City Clerk with the application to cover the investigation; annual renewal is also $110 (9.14(3)(k)). Renewing after December 31 adds a late fee of 25 percent of the license fee (9.14(12)). The Clerk’s fee schedule lists Solicitor at 110.00.
• Hours you may knock: The solicitor’s permit section sets no knocking hours (9.14). The clock rule in the chapter is written for registered transient merchants, who may not call at a dwelling between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. except by appointment (9.17(7)(a)1), and 9.17 excludes house-to-house sellers permitted under 9.14. Ask the Clerk whether the city holds solicitors to the same window.
• What the rep carries: The permit, carried at all times while soliciting and shown to any police officer or any person solicited who asks. It may not be used by anyone but the person it was issued to (9.14(7)).
• What takes the time: The police investigation. The application needs fingerprints taken by a law enforcement agency, a 2 x 2 inch photo less than a year old, the last three cities worked, and a conviction statement (9.14(3)). The Chief of Police has thirty days to endorse it (9.14(5)(a)); the Clerk’s form says the background investigation “may take two weeks.” The form also asks for the employer’s 15-digit State Seller’s Permit Number.
• Code: Madison General Ordinances 9.14 (Solicitor’s and Canvasser’s Permits); 9.15 (hawkers and peddlers); 9.17 (transient merchants). Municode shows the version dated Sep 1, 2026 as current.
• Worth knowing: Annual permits all expire at midnight on December 31 of the year issued, whenever they were bought (9.14(11)). A denied or revoked applicant must wait six months to reapply (9.14(10)). Violations carry a forfeiture of up to $300 per offense, each day counted separately (9.14(14)).
• Read it yourself: Madison General Ordinances Chapter 9 (9.14, 9.15, 9.17) · City of Madison Clerk, Solicitor Permit application (REV 05/2019) · Madison City Clerk’s Office, License Fee Schedule for New Applications · checked 18 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: Does the city hold 9.14 solicitors to the 9:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. rule written for transient merchants? Where can out-of-state reps get fingerprints the Clerk will accept? Is the fee prorated for a permit bought late in the year, given the December 31 expiration? Is there a no-soliciting sign rule that applies to 9.14 permit holders? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________