Fort Smith, AR Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Fort Smith treats commercial door-to-door selling as a regulated activity that requires a city-issued peddler permit, with identification carried by the individual peddler. Chapter 13, Article VIII begins at Sec. 13-213 (identification) and proceeds through the standard set of municipal peddler-ordinance elements: definitions, application requirements (often including a criminal background check through the Arkansas State Police), permit fees set by the city, mandatory ID badge while soliciting, route and hour limitations on residential premises, and provisions allowing homeowners to post 'No Soliciting' signs that operate as a code-enforceable bar to entry. Religious, political, and pure-charitable solicitation that does not involve commercial sales is protected expression and cannot be conditioned on a commercial peddler permit; cities can, however, impose narrow, content-neutral time-place-manner registration requirements under Watchtower Bible & Tract Society v. Village of Stratton (2002) and Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015). Fort Smith's framework is administered through the Business License office (479-784-2299) and enforced by the Fort Smith Police Department; complaints of unlicensed peddling can be made to police or to the city's CityView code-enforcement portal. The ordinance is distinct from the city's general business-license requirement in Chapter 13, Article III - many peddlers need both a business license and a peddler/solicitor permit. State-law preemption under A.C.A. § 14-54-101 et seq. (municipal powers) confirms the city's authority in this area.