PRAIRIE GROVE — The Prairie Grove City Council stopped just short of adopting a new door-to-door solicitation ordinance Monday night, after Police Chief Carl Dorman wondered how his officers would know which groups had complied with the law.
Instead, the council left the proposed ordinance on first reading and City Attorney Steve Parker said he would add a provision requiring solicitors to carry a badge or piece of paper showing they had registered with the city.
Mayor Sonny Hudson said he asked Parker to update the ordinance because more people appear to be selling services or products door-to-door.
“We have a extra few folks out door-to-door,” Hudson said. “Maybe, it’s due to the economy.”
Hudson said the current ordinance “needs to be cleaned up and be right and enforceable to the extent of the law.”
The city’s present ordinance on door-to-door solicitation is based on a state law passed in the 1990s. This ordinance required anyone soliciting in the city to purchase a $250 permit, even the Girl Scouts, Parker said.
He added that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled door-to-door solicitation is legal because it is considered free speech. However, he said the city can place some restrictions on its use.
The proposed ordinance would require any company that conducts business in the city of Prairie Grove to purchase a $25 annual business license.
For example, Schwan’s, which delivers products to the door, would be required to purchase a business license in Prairie Grove. In another example, a company that employs college students to sell magazines would be required to purchase a business license to conduct business in Prairie Grove.
The ordinance would define groups or persons who go door-to-door as either “canvassers” or “solicitors,” Parker said.
Canvassers include church groups, politicians or people taking surveys who are not selling a product. A solicitor is anyone selling goods or services door-to-door.
Businesses and nonprofit groups that sell products or services door-to-door would be required to register with the city as a solicitor, but the city would not charge a fee for this registration.
The proposed ordinance says canvassers and solicitors could go door-to-door from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Dorman asked Parker how his officers would know which groups had registered with the city and Parker replied that the city could supply a list to the police department. The chief pointed out that if he was gone the list might not be passed on to the officer on duty.
“I envision this will be a big problem for us if they are not required to carry a type of license,” Dorman said.
He said he was not concerned about school groups involved in fundraisers but about firms that bring in six or seven people going door-to-door and selling magazines or other similar items.
“If they are out at 6 or 7 at night and we don’t have a copy of the list, we won’t know who’s registered or not,” Dorman said.
Parker said he would address Dorman’s concerns with a provision requiring solicitors to carry a license or another piece of paper to prove they had registered with the city.
The ordinance also will allow the city to create a “No Knock” list and local citizens will be able to request to have their names and addresses on this list. Canvassers and solicitors would not be allowed to go to those residences on the “No Knock” list or to approach houses with a “no soliciting” sign on the front door or in the yard.
Anyone found guilty of violating the ordinance could be fined up to $25 per day.