Shasta County, CA Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Permitting agency
- Shasta County Sheriff's Office
- Bond required
- $500 surety or cash bond
- Fingerprints
- Required, on state standard form
- Residency exemption
- 90 days' county residency
- Local-business exemption
- Business open 90+ continuous days
- Appeal of denial
- To Board of Supervisors
Summary
Anyone going door to door in unincorporated Shasta County to sell goods, take orders, or offer services must first get a solicitor's permit from the county sheriff's office. The permit process includes fingerprinting, a $500 bond, and a background check into the applicant's moral character.
It is unlawful for any person to enter or go in or upon any private residence, dwelling house, apartment or the grounds or premises thereof within the unincorporated area of the county for the purpose of soliciting from the occupants thereof or to canvass for orders for goods, wares, merchandise or services of any character or description or for the purpose of offering to give or furnish, or giving or furnishing any goods, wares, merchandise or services to any such occupants to induce or invite such orders without having first applied for and received from the county sheriff's office a solicitor's permit.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code: Supplement 22).
Full Breakdown
20 bars entering any private residence, dwelling, apartment, or its grounds to solicit orders for goods, wares, merchandise, or services, or to offer to furnish them, without first applying for and receiving a solicitor's permit from the county sheriff's office. Exemptions cover peddlers of fish, vegetables, or fruit; people soliciting orders for goods raised, grown, manufactured, or produced in the county; soliciting incidental to a local business that has operated continuously for at least 90 days; and people who have lived in the county for at least 90 days before soliciting.
Applicants file in writing at the sheriff's office during normal business hours, disclosing their physical description, employer, residence and employment history for the prior year, the goods or services offered and their supplier, the planned duration and area of solicitation, and any prior arrest record; supplying false information on the application is itself unlawful. Every applicant must submit a $500 bond, or a cash bond in lieu of surety, covering final delivery of goods or refund of advance payments, and must be fingerprinted by the sheriff's office on the state's standard form.
The sheriff's office investigates the applicant's moral character and the legitimacy of the proposed business and issues the permit if satisfied; a denial can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors for a hearing, whose decision is final.
Violations & Fines
Soliciting door to door without a permit is unlawful, as is supplying false information on a permit application or failing to carry and exhibit the permit to a peace officer or the person being solicited on request. A permit can be revoked by the sheriff's office for violating any county ordinance or state or federal law tied to the business, or for losing the character qualifications required for issuance, with the permittee able to appeal a revocation to the Board of Supervisors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do local farmers selling produce door to door need a solicitor's permit in Shasta County?
What does the Shasta County solicitor permit application require?
Can a denied solicitor permit application be appealed?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Shasta County
California rules heatmap·Compare Shasta County to another location·View the California soliciting & door-to-door overview
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