Columbus, IN Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Chapter 5.20 of the Columbus Municipal Code regulates door-to-door solicitation: the uninvited personal solicitation of residents on residential property inside the corporate limits of the City of Columbus, Indiana, whether the vendor sells products, services or property or asks for money. The Columbus Police Department runs the licensing program, and applications are requested on weekdays, Monday through Friday excluding holidays, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

The application asks for the vendor's date and state of incorporation, its Better Business Bureau status, the name of every employee and agent who will canvass, and a limited criminal history from the Indiana State Police for the vendor and each of those people. The vendor must also name a complaint contact who stays available for not less than sixty days after the last day it sells or offers goods or services in the city. Anyone selling food or beverage that is not pre-packaged is referred to the Bartholomew County health department for a refrigeration and sanitation inspection. Any substantial change in the application information must be reported to the police in writing within seventy-two hours, or the license is suspended after a hearing.

The chief of police issues the license and ID card once the application is complete and no felony or misdemeanor conviction for dishonesty, fraud, theft or moral turpitude shows up within fifteen years. The fee is fifteen dollars for a ten-day license or ninety dollars for a one-year license, plus three dollars for each adult employee or agent ID card. Minor employees carry a copy of the vendor's license instead. Fees are waived for 501(c)(3), nonprofit and charitable organizations and any organization exempt from Indiana gross retail tax. Section 5.20.030(B) separately says a license is valid for exactly ten or one hundred twenty days from issue, so confirm the term with the police department when you apply.

Exempt persons never need the license: people engaged in protected political or religious speech, people exempt through federal or state preemption, holders of an Indiana Professional Licensing Agency license, and holders of an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission certificate for direct cable marketing unless they elect to follow Chapter 5.20.