The Doorstep Playbook

Door-to-Door Permit Rules in Missouri: 4 Cities Checked

So far 4 cities in Missouri have been checked. Each one links to its own card, which cites the ordinance and shows the date it was checked.

Columbia

  • Permit: Yes — a Solicitor's Permit, per rep.
  • 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.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Kansas City

  • Permit: No general door-to-door solicitor permit is in the Kansas City code.
  • Fee: Peddler license, on foot: the schedule reads “Per year .....62.50” per person, and the same figure for nonresidents, in advance. Using a vehicle: “The $32.00 license fee” per vehicle per year, not prorated (40-133).
  • Hours you may knock: The code sets no knocking hours. Chapter 40 and Chapter 50 were read and neither carries a clock time for solicitors.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Springfield

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes. Anyone soliciting or selling door-to-door for compensation must register with the Director of Finance before soliciting ( § 86-2 ), and a paid solicitor or demonstrator must hold a business license as a solicitor ( § 70-84 ).
  • Fee: $15.00 for each solicitor or 'demonstrator-solicitor' working for a distributor that sells door-to-door (§ 70-84(65), (67)); if the rep does not fit a more specific category, the catch-all 'solicitation agency' rate is $25.00 for the agency plus $15.00 for each solicitor (§ 70-84(125)).
  • Hours you may knock: 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The code bars knocking on doors or otherwise disturbing residents 'between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.,' whether the solicitor is licensed or not (§ 86-7).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

St. Louis

  • Permit: Yes. Each “drummer, solicitor, or canvasser” needs a license from the License Collector, per individual.
  • Fee: Per rep, in the code’s own words: “One dollar per day, ten dollars per month, fifteen dollars per year.” Moving a license to another employee of the same company costs “a fee of one dollar” (8.06.452). The code prints these in words, not figures; confirm the current charge with the License Collector.
  • Hours you may knock: The code sets no knocking hours for commercial solicitors. The 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. rule in Chapter 8.84 (8.84.070) applies to charitable street solicitation permits, not door-to-door sales.
  • Checked: 18 September 2026

Back to the Permit Lookup

City not on this list? The City Clerk Call Sheet has the eight questions to ask any city.