Tuscaloosa, Alabama: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes — two things. The company takes out a solicitor/door-to-door sales business license in its own name, and every rep needs an individual solicitor/door-to-door sales permit, shown by a picture identification from the city police department (7-19, class 454393). A solicitor is anyone going house to house who sells or takes orders for goods or any article or thing for future delivery.
• Where it comes from: The rep applies to the city revenue department on its form; the picture identification comes from the city police department, which also sends the state background check (7-19, class 454393(2)). The company's license is a business license from the revenue department (7-16, 7-25).
• Fee: Company: the business license schedule lists Solicitor/Door-to-Door Sales at $450.00 (7-18, NAICS 454393), plus the city's license issuance fee, which the code ties to the state maximum without printing a figure (7-25(b)). Per rep: twenty-five dollars ($25.00) by cashier's check or money order to the state bureau of investigation for the background check, plus twenty dollars ($20.00) for the police picture identification, both per rep per permit (7-19, class 454393(2)).
• Hours you may knock: September through May, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; June, July and August, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. No door-to-door sales on holidays recognized by the city, or between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Sunday (7-19, class 454393(1)c).
• What the rep carries: The picture identification permit, worn so it is clearly visible at all times while soliciting. Every order must be in writing, in duplicate, with one copy given to the buyer (7-19, class 454393(3)).
• What takes the time: A state criminal background history through the state bureau of investigation, requested by the city police department, and a statement of any convictions (7-19, class 454393(2)). The individual permit lasts only thirty (30) days from issuance, so a longer campaign means reapplying (7-19, class 454393(3)a). No processing time is published.
• Code: Tuscaloosa Code of Ordinances, Chapter 7, Article II — Business Licenses: license schedule (7-18) and the additional regulations for class 454393, Solicitor/door to door sales (7-19); schedule last amended by Ord. No. 9727, 12-16-25.
• Worth knowing: No permit is issued to a solicitor convicted under the article or whose solicitor's license was suspended or revoked before. The police chief or revenue director may suspend a permit for fraud, a felony or crime of dishonesty, or a nuisance; appeal is to the city clerk within ten (10) days (7-19, class 454393(1)b, (4)). Business licenses run to the end of the calendar year (7-26).
• Read it yourself: Tuscaloosa Code, Chapter 7, Article II — Business Licenses · checked 21 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• The dollar amount of the license issuance fee added to the $450.00 company license
• Whether a flat-rate company license taken out after July 1 is half price for the solicitor class
• How long the state background check and picture identification take

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________