Knox County, TN Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Section 12-28 sets the baseline rule: "[n]o person, firm or corporation shall operate a business as a peddler, transient vendor, solicitor or street barker" within Knox County without first obtaining a county license under the chapter, and the same requirement reaches charitable, religious and subscription solicitors. Section 12-29 lays out the license procedure in detail. An applicant files a sworn application with the county clerk giving the business name and address, a description of the goods to be sold, the dates of intended solicitation, the applicant's name, address, Social Security number and date of birth, vehicle information, and a Tennessee sales tax number if applicable, and must sign a waiver allowing the sheriff's office to check for outstanding warrants or convictions for crimes of moral turpitude.

00 fee with the application. The application and background-check form then go to the Knox County Sheriff's Office, which checks for pending warrants or moral turpitude convictions; if the check comes back clear and the applicant has no moral turpitude conviction within the past ten years, the county clerk issues the license after payment of the fee. " A license expires 30 days after issuance under § 12-34 and can be suspended or revoked by the county clerk or the county commission under § 12-33 for false statements on the application, a disqualifying warrant or conviction discovered later, or any violation of the chapter.