Solicitation
To solicit in the City of Albany or Dougherty County, you must obtain a Solicitor’s Permit. Permits are issued in six-month increments. Religious and educational organizations within the local area are exempt from the solicitation requirements. (This exemption does not absolve a non-profit organization from having an occupation tax certificate.)
Activities are permitted between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., and only on Sundays, with an appointment.
A solicitor must comply with the city ordinance, which you can review online.
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:
Applications that are not fully completed may result in a 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 six months after 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 provided on the application, the ID card holder must fully and promptly notify this department of the new information.
The holder of an ID card that 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 for issuance of a duplicate card is $15.
Additional Links