Olathe, Kansas: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: No solicitor permit or license is required. The city says so directly: "The City of Olathe does not require a permit for soliciting door-to-door on residential or commercial property." The code's certificate-of-registration section for solicitors was repealed (5.28.045), and the chapter that remains, 5.28, only sets rules of conduct. What still applies: the 5.28 conduct rules bind anyone taking orders for goods or services door to door (5.28.020), the knocking hours below, the "No Solicitors" sign rule, and the city's general Retailers Registration for a company doing business in Olathe (5.02.010).
• Where it comes from: No issuing office, because no permit exists. The City Clerk's Office (913-971-8521) handles solicitation questions and issues free "No Solicitors" notice decals to residents on request; the Police Department (913-971-7500) handles violations.
• Fee: None. There is no permit, so no fee. The code's only dollar figure in this chapter is the $500.00 maximum penalty for violating the conduct rules (5.28.070).
• Hours you may knock: From ten o'clock (10:00) a.m. to eight o'clock (8:00) p.m. local time, every day — soliciting outside that window is unlawful (5.28.030(A)(2)).
• What the rep carries: No badge or ID card is required by the code. A solicitor must disclose, at the outset, their own name and the name of the company, product or organization they represent (5.28.030(A)(6)).
• Code: Olathe Municipal Code Chapter 5.28, Solicitation, Peddling and Canvassing (§§ 5.28.010–5.28.090).
• Worth knowing: A rep may not ring the bell or knock where a "No Solicitors" or "No Trespassers" sign is posted (5.28.030(A)(1)); may not call again at the same residence within 14 days without an invitation (5.28.030(A)(4)); must leave if asked (5.28.030(A)(3)); may not go up any entrance but the main one (5.28.030(B)(2)); may not cut across lawns or yards off the walkway (5.28.030(A)(10)); and may not solicit at all if convicted of a felony, or a misdemeanor or ordinance violation involving force, violence, moral turpitude, deceit or fraud, within the past 5 years (5.28.030(B)(1)). Separately, the company itself falls under Retailers Registration if it regularly sells goods or furnishes services to consumers in the city: a "retailer" must get a certificate of registration from the city within thirty (30) days of its first business day (5.02.010, 5.02.020). Chapter 5.02 names no fee. That is a company registration, not a per-rep permit.
• Read it yourself: City of Olathe — Solicitation (Police Department page) · Olathe Municipal Code Chapter 5.28, Solicitation, Peddling and Canvassing · Olathe Municipal Code Title 5, Business Licenses and Regulations (chapter list) · Olathe Municipal Code Chapter 5.02, Retailers Registration · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: Whether the Retailers Registration (Chapter 5.02) applies to an out-of-town company whose only Olathe activity is door-to-door reps, and whether it costs anything; Whether the City Clerk keeps a checkable list of addresses that requested the free "No Solicitors" notice decal. Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________