In order to solicit in the City of Albany or Dougherty County you must obtain a Solicitor’s Permit. The permits are issued in 6 month increments.   Religious and educational organizations within the local area are exempt from the solicitor requirements. (This exemption does not absolve a non-profit organization from having an occupation tax certificate.)

Activities are permitted between the hours 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and only on Sundays with an appointment.

A solicitor must comply with the city ordinance Click here to review. 

Solicitor

Solicitor includes going door-to-door (house to house) in residential areas of the city and engaging in any type of selling, seeking donations, or any other business, occupation or vocation which involves any attempt to obtain money, orders, donations, subscriptions or the like, whether such activity is done on a permanent or part-time basis or whether such activity is done for a non-profit or not-for-profit organization or enterprise.

Note: Dougherty County (the unincorporated area) does not define peddlers, transients, itinerant merchants or vendors when discussing the requirement for occupation tax certificates. Common definitions, similar to those above would apply.

Application Process

Applicants must submit a printed or typed application form. Applications are available at the License & Business Support Department, 240 Pine Avenue, Suite 150, or are available for download by clicking here.

Applications not fully completed could result in delay or denial of ID card issuance. Failure to provide complete and accurate information on the registration form can also result in the denial, revocation, or suspension of an ID card.

Applicants are subject to a background check. Grounds for denial of an application include when the applicant has pled guilty or no contest to or has been convicted of a felony, or a misdemeanor involving violence or moral turpitude.

The Fee for each ID card requested is $15 per six months. The ID cards expire at the end of the six month period of issuance. All fees are non-refundable.

If during the period for which an ID card is issued, there is any change in the factual information furnished on the application , the ID card holder must fully and promptly communicate the new information to this department.

The holder of an ID card which is lost, stolen, or mutilated shall immediately report the loss or mutilation to this department, for the issuance of a duplicate ID card. The fee of issuance of a duplicate card is $15.

Additional Links

• Solicitor's Permit Application
• Solicitor's  Ordinance

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