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

Chapter 6-64 of the Memphis Code of Ordinances governs "public solicitation," defined in Sec. 6-64-1 to include begging or solicitation of money, subscriptions, or contributions for a charitable, religious, educational, or benevolent purpose made on the streets, in public places and buildings, from house to house, or by telephone. Sec. 6-64-3 makes it unlawful to engage in any such solicitation without a permit issued by the Board of Supervisors of Public Solicitation. To obtain one, Sec. 6-64-4 requires filing a sworn application with the board's secretary answering all required questions; refusing to answer is itself grounds to decline the application.

Under Sec. 6-64-5, the secretary must investigate and be satisfied the purpose is bona fide and that the solicitor will act in good faith before issuing a permit card naming the authorized solicitor, the purpose, the time window for soliciting, and whether the solicitor is paid for the work. Collecting money and using less than 75 percent of it for the stated purpose creates a rebuttable presumption that the funds were misapplied. One group application can cover every solicitor working the same cause, so a canvassing team does not need separate permits.

If the secretary declines an application, Sec. 6-64-6 lets the applicant appeal to the full board at an open, noticed hearing, and a majority vote of the board is final. Every solicitor must carry the permit card while soliciting and produce it on demand, per Sec. 6-64-7, and Sec. 6-64-8 lets the board suspend or cancel a permit after a hearing if a condition of the permit is violated or funds are misapplied. A. Title 67, Chapter 58), which Memphis Code Sec. 6-36-2 separately requires for any "itinerant vendor/peddler," a term the code defines to include peddlers, solicitors, canvassers and hawkers selling merchandise.