Fauquier County, VA Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Sec. 18-1 defines a solicitor as anyone who goes door to door to multifamily or single-family dwellings to sell goods, wares, merchandise or services, other than newspapers and fresh farm products, or to request charitable donations. Before stepping onto any residential premises for that purpose, Sec. 18-2 requires the person to register with the Sheriff and disclose their name, local and permanent addresses, age, physical description, the goods or services offered, the employer or organization represented, and any felony or misdemeanor conviction with its disposition.

Sec. 18-3 then requires the Sheriff to issue a permit once that information is furnished, unless it shows a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude, in which case the permit is denied. A permit runs for one year from issuance, must be carried at all times while soliciting, and must be shown on demand; a conviction for violating the chapter voids it immediately. Sec. 18-4 sets a $20.00 fee, payable to the Sheriff when the application is filed, to cover the cost of investigating the applicant and processing the paperwork, and states the fee is never returned.

Sec. 18-6 exempts invited visitors, unpaid civic or charitable volunteers with organizational identification, newspaper carriers taking home-delivery subscriptions, regular route deliverymen, sellers of fresh farm products, and persons already licensed under Title 38.1 of the Code of Virginia. Because the county has no separate penalty clause in Chapter 18, an unpermitted solicitor is subject to the Code's general penalty in Sec. 1-7.