St. Cloud, Minnesota: 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: Not confirmed for service sales. The code requires a permit and license for peddlers (475:05). A peddler goes house to house carrying goods and delivering them, and anyone who takes orders and delivers in a separate transaction is also a peddler (475:00, Subd. 2). The code has no separate solicitor or canvasser license and does not mention orders for services.
• Where it comes from: The city clerk. The sworn application is filed with the clerk, the police chief investigates, and the clerk issues the license once the fee is paid (475:05, Subd. 2, Subd. 3). The city's Business Licensing page lists no peddler application online; it gives the City Clerk at (320) 255-7201.
• Fee: Peddlers and transient merchants: a minimum fee of $145.00 for 7 days, $17.00 each additional day, $18.50 per helper for 7 days and $7.75 per helper each additional day, plus a $70.00 investigation fee (510:00, Subd. 6). A peddler also deposits a surety bond of five percent of the retail value of the inventory offered, and never less than $1,000.00 (475:10, Subd. 1).
• Hours you may knock: The peddler section sets no knocking hours, and a search of the code for door-to-door and soliciting rules found none.
• What the rep carries: The identification card the clerk issues with the license, shown to any citizen who asks; it cannot be used by anyone else (475:20, Subd. 1, Subd. 2, Subd. 7).
• What takes the time: The sworn application is filed at least 30 days before the license issues (475:05, Subd. 2). It needs a 2x2 photo taken within 60 days, fingerprints, and two property owners in Stearns, Benton or Sherburne County to vouch for the applicant or other evidence of good character, followed by a police investigation (475:05, Subd. 2(i), (j), Subd. 3).
• Code: St. Cloud Code of Ordinances, Chapter IV — Business Licensing, Section 475 — Peddlers/Transient Merchants (475:00 to 475:75); fees in Chapter V, 510:00. Municode shows the code codified through Ordinance No. 2994, enacted May 18, 2026 (Supp. No. 3, Update 2).
• Worth knowing: Under the general licensing rules, one act of soliciting business for a licensed activity counts as doing that business (400:00, Subd. 2). The code has no "No Soliciting" sign rule in the peddler section.
• Read it yourself: St. Cloud Code, Section 475 — Peddlers/Transient Merchants · St. Cloud Code 510:00 — Business licenses permits and fees · St. Cloud Code of Ordinances — landing page · City of St. Cloud — Business Licensing · checked 23 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• Whether a rep taking orders for internet or other services, with nothing delivered by the rep, needs the peddler permit and license
• Whether the surety bond applies to a rep who carries no inventory
• Whether the city sets any hours for door-to-door sales outside Section 475
• Whether each rep needs a license or can be listed as a helper at $18.50 for 7 days

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________