Lower Paxton, PA Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

The Lower Paxton Township Board of Supervisors adopted Chapter 137 by Ord. No. 17-06 on 5-15-2017. Section 137-1 defines soliciting to include seeking or taking orders for goods or services and also seeking subscriptions or contributions, whether on streets or sidewalks, house to house, or on private property in the Township. A request for money therefore falls inside the chapter.

Section 137-12 is the conduct list. Subsection H prohibits hard-sell tactics, which the Code defines as a method of advertising or selling that is direct, forceful, and insistent or high-pressure salesmanship, whether the pitch is for a product, a service or funds. Subsection H also prohibits refusing to cease efforts after a resident personally says they are not interested. Subsection I prohibits soliciting residents who display Do Not Solicit signage and whose name and address appear on the Do Not Solicit List provided by the Police Department. Section 137-2A repeats that rule: holding a valid license does not excuse a visit to a listed home.

The same section also bars soliciting without a license or without displaying it, crying wares or using a loudspeaker or horn, occupying a fixed location on streets, alleys or sidewalks, and working outside permitted hours. Under § 137-7 a licensed solicitor may not work before 8:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m., or at any time on Sundays or Township-recognized holidays.

A solicitor applies to the Secretary of the Board of Supervisors or a designee and furnishes a Pennsylvania criminal history check dated within 30 days. The license is valid for 30 days, and § 137-5 allows advance issue for consecutive thirty-day periods not exceeding two. The fee is set by Board resolution. A denial can be appealed in writing to the Director of Public Safety within five days. Section 137-2B exempts groups such as farmers selling their own products and insurance agents licensed by Pennsylvania.