Joliet, IL Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Chapter 22, Article III, Division 2 (Sections 22-38 through 22-47) governs canvassers' and solicitors' permits, covering anyone traveling house to house taking orders, sales or subscriptions for goods, services or donations. Section 22-38 requires the caller to file a sworn registration statement with the chief of police and obtain a registration permit before calling at any residence without the occupant's prior consent; Section 22-39 spells out what that statement must contain, including the applicant's identity and signature, employer, the products or services offered, the applicant's permanent and local addresses, and how long the applicant intends to operate in the city.

1, set by the city's general fee schedule in Section 18-20. Section 22-40 bars the chief from issuing a permit until three days after the application is filed, giving Section 22-41's mandatory background check time to run: the chief must investigate the registrant's criminal record, and must refuse the permit in writing if the applicant has ever been convicted of a felony; absent a felony, the chief must issue the permit once the three-day window closes. Every permit holder must carry the permit while soliciting and show it to any officer or resident on request (Section 22-42), and the permit expires on December 31 of the year issued unless it was issued for a shorter term (Section 22-43); it cannot be transferred or worn by anyone other than the person to whom it was issued (Section 22-44).

The city manager can revoke a permit after notice and a hearing for fraud, felony conviction, or conducting business unlawfully or as a public menace (Section 22-45), and a denied or revoked applicant can appeal to an administrative hearing within fourteen days (Section 22-47). Several categories are exempt from the whole article, including government employees on official business and insurance, newspaper, dairy-route, real estate and franchised cable solicitations (Section 22-31).