Mobile, Alabama: 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. Each rep needs an individual Solicitor Permit issued by the Mobile Police Department, and the company needs an agent/solicitor business license from the city (License and Tax Code, Schedule 425120 / 454384).
• Where it comes from: The Mobile Police Department Records Unit issues the individual Solicitor Permit (records check and photo ID card). The City of Mobile Revenue Department issues the company's agent and solicitor business license (Code of Ordinances, ch. 34).
• Fee: The Solicitor Permit itself is $25, per the police department's own fee schedule. Separately, the business license schedule lists the agent/solicitor's permit line item as "$3.00" in addition to the agent and solicitor business license, which is taxed at a rate (not a flat dollar figure) under Schedule 425120 (ch. 34 fee schedule).
• Hours you may knock: Not published on the pages read. No clock-time knocking-hours restriction for commercial solicitors was found in the license and tax chapter or in the public-peace-and-order offenses chapter.
• What the rep carries: A photo ID card issued by the police department when the Solicitor Permit is granted (ch. 34, Schedule 454384).
• What takes the time: The Solicitor Permit requires appearing in person at police headquarters with valid photo ID and a Social Security card for a records/background check before the permit and ID card are issued.
• Code: Code of Ordinances, City of Mobile, ch. 34, Schedule 425120 (agent and solicitor license) and Schedule 454384 (agent/solicitor's permit, obtained from police department).
• Worth knowing: Employees of an already-licensed company are not required to buy a separate business license themselves, but each one must still get the individual Solicitor Permit (ch. 34, Schedule 425120).
• Read it yourself: Mobile Code of Ordinances ch. 34 - Licenses and Taxation, Schedule of Business Licenses · Mobile Police Department - Records & Forms (fee schedule) · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: What are the city's knocking hours for door-to-door commercial sales, if any -- none are published in the code sections read? Does the $3.00 line item in Schedule 454384 replace or stack with the $25.00 Solicitor Permit fee on the police department's own fee schedule? How long does the police records check take before the Solicitor Permit and ID card are issued? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________