Chino, CA Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Core ban
- Soliciting vehicle occupants anywhere in the ROW
- Penalty
- Up to $1,000 fine and/or 6 months jail
- Nonprofit exemption
- Requires a city permit
- Freeway buffer
- 300 feet from any ramp
- Parking-lot exception
- Needs owner policy + posted notice
- Adopted
- Ord. 97-02, 1997
Summary
Chino bans soliciting employment, business or money from anyone traveling in a vehicle while standing in the public right-of-way, including streets, sidewalks and driveways, under Chino Municipal Code § 12.12.030. Nonprofits may solicit drivers only with a city permit and must stay 300 feet from freeway ramps.
A.It is unlawful for any person, while standing in any portion of the public right-of-way, including, but not limited to public streets, highways, sidewalks and driveways, to solicit, or attempt to solicit, employment, business or contributions of money or property from any person traveling in a vehicle along a public right-of-way, including, but not limited to, public streets, highways or driveways.B.It is unlawful for any person, while the occupant of any vehicle, to solicit, or attempt to solicit employment, business or contributions of money or property from any person who is within the public right-of-way, including, but not limited to, a public street, highway, sidewalk or driveway.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 38).
Full Breakdown
12 (Ord. 97-02, 1997) prohibits two mirror-image acts: a pedestrian in the right-of-way soliciting a vehicle occupant, and a vehicle occupant soliciting a pedestrian in the right-of-way. to solicit, or attempt to solicit, employment, business or contributions of money or property from any person traveling in a vehicle," and (B) bans the same exchange from inside a vehicle. 020 as "any action, offer or request which announces or inquires about the availability of employment, the sale or purchase of goods, or the contribution of funds or property," and is "deemed complete when made," whether or not a transaction ever closes.
040, bars solicitation inside privately owned commercial parking lots unless the property owner adopts a written policy authorizing it, files a copy with the chief of police, and posts a notice at each entrance at least eighteen by twenty-four inches with one-inch lettering. 050: solicitation "conducted, managed or carried on wholly by and for the benefit of nonprofit organizations" is excused from the chapter, but only if the nonprofit first applies for and receives a city permit describing the location, dates and times, submits proof of its nonprofit status, and stays at least three hundred feet from any freeway or highway on-ramp or off-ramp.
Violations & Fines
Any violation of Chapter 12.12, including soliciting a vehicle occupant from the curb or median, soliciting in an unauthorized commercial parking lot, or a nonprofit soliciting without the required city permit, is a misdemeanor under § 12.12.060, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in county jail, or both. Chino police cite offenders directly in the right-of-way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I ask drivers for donations at a Chino intersection?
Do charities need a permit to solicit drivers in Chino?
Can a business let vendors solicit customers in its parking lot?
What's the penalty for illegal street solicitation in Chino?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Chino
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How other cities in San Bernardino County handle solicitor permits.