Shawnee, Kansas: 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 — at the company level. The business the reps are soliciting for must first hold a city occupational license (5.56.080(A), Chapter 5.04). The 2019 solicitor chapter sets no separate per-rep permit; each rep carries a government-issued photo ID instead (5.56.080(O)). Solicitation covers taking or attempting to take orders for goods or services for profit while going door to door (5.56.010(C)).
• Where it comes from: The City Clerk, who takes the application and the license tax and issues the occupational license (5.04.020, 5.04.080).
• Fee: The code sets no dollar amount: the license tax is whatever the governing body lists in the City of Shawnee Policy Statement PS-56, for a twelve-month period (5.04.120). PS-56 could not be read — the city's website blocked automated access. A first-year license is prorated by month to the next October 1 (5.04.060).
• Hours you may knock: The solicitor chapter sets no knocking hours; subsection B of the regulations section is printed as "OMITTED" (5.56.080).
• What the rep carries: A government-issued photo ID such as a driver's license, for any solicitor 16 or older, shown to city police on request (5.56.080(O)). A business with no permanent location in the city carries a copy of its occupational license and shows it on request (5.04.110). At the start of the conversation the rep gives his name and the company or product he represents (5.56.080(J)).
• What takes the time: A written occupational license application to the City Clerk (5.04.050). The code sets no background check for reps, but no one may solicit who is a registered offender, or who has a felony for deceit, fraud, firearm possession, theft or violence in the past ten years, or a soliciting-law conviction in the past five years (5.56.080(P)). No processing time is published.
• Code: Shawnee Municipal Code, Chapter 5.56 — Solicitors (5.56.010 to 5.56.100), enacted by Ord. No. 3259 in 2019, and Chapter 5.04 — Occupational Licenses and Taxes. Municode shows the code codified through Ordinance No. 3646, adopted April 27, 2026 (Supp. No. 9, Update 1).
• Worth knowing: No knocking where a "No Solicitors" or "No Trespassers" sign is posted, only the main entrance, no cutting across lawns, and no second call at the same home for the same product within 30 days unless invited — this covers other reps from the same company too (5.56.080(C), (G), (L), (M)). A written receipt is required on request for purchases over $5.00 (5.56.080(I)). Violations carry a fine of up to $500.00, up to 30 days in jail, or both (5.56.100).
• Read it yourself: Shawnee Municipal Code, Chapter 5.56 — Solicitors · Shawnee Municipal Code, Chapter 5.04 — Occupational Licenses and Taxes · Shawnee Municipal Code — landing page · checked 23 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• The current occupational license tax in PS-56 for a door-to-door sales company, and whether it covers every rep
• Whether the city still issues any solicitor permit or badge, or only the company occupational license
• Whether any city rule sets door-to-door knocking hours

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________