Murfreesboro, Tennessee: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: No door-to-door permit is in the Murfreesboro code. The city once had a whole chapter on Solicitations (Chapter 27); the code's own editor's note says it "was deleted in its entirety" effective 12-02-94, and the chapter now reads Reserved. The section the city's FAQ points to, 21-5.3 Unlawful Solicitations, is a panhandling rule: it defines solicitation as a request "for an immediate donation of money or other thing of value," so it does not reach a rep selling a service. What still applies is the ordinary business license: the city says state law requires all businesses inside the city limits to get one from the City and Rutherford County.
• Where it comes from: Murfreesboro City Code Chapter 27 (Reserved), Section 21-5.3 and Section 18-2, which levies the Tennessee Business Tax Act in the city. Business licenses come from the city's Finance and Tax department, per its Business Licenses page.
• Fee: No solicitor permit, so no permit fee. For the business license the city's page says: "The initial license is $15 and is payable to the city and county." It lists an exception for a business that does not gross $3,000 annually in receipts. The page does not say how it treats an out-of-town company with reps in the field.
• Hours you may knock: The code sets no knocking hours for commercial door-to-door sales. The "after sunset and before sunrise" ban in 21-5.3(C) applies only to solicitation as that section defines it, a request for a donation. The noise article bars yelling or shouting while "hawking, peddling, or otherwise advertising or selling goods or services" in a residential area at any time (21-108); that is a noise rule, not a curfew.
• What the rep carries: Nothing city-issued is named in the code for a door-to-door sales rep.
• What takes the time: No background check, bond or processing time is published, because there is no solicitor permit.
• Code: Murfreesboro City Code Chapter 27 (Reserved, editor's note); 21-5.3; 21-108; 18-2. Municode shows the version dated Apr 24, 2026 as current.
• Worth knowing: The city's Legal Department FAQ answers "What are the City's laws about panhandling and solicitation?" by pointing to 21-5.3. That section's severability clause says it is not intended to reach any demand for payment for goods or services that does not meet its donation-based definition of solicitation.
• Read it yourself: Murfreesboro City Code Chapter 27, Reserved (editor's note) · Murfreesboro City Code 21-5.3, Unlawful solicitations · Murfreesboro City Code, Chapter 21 (21-108 noise) · Murfreesboro City Code 18-2, Privilege tax · City of Murfreesboro, Business Licenses · City of Murfreesboro, Legal Department FAQ · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: Does an out-of-town company whose reps take orders door to door need the City and Rutherford County business license before they start? Does the city ask door-to-door sales crews to register with or notify the Police Department? Does the city enforce any hours for residential door-to-door sales? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________