Business and Occupation – Article 01. Licensing and Regulation of Solicitors

Section 5-1. Permit and License Required.

It shall be unlawful for any person to go from house to house, or place to place, in the Town of Tryon, Oklahoma soliciting selling, or taking orders for, or offering to sell or take orders for any goods, wares, merchandise, services, photographs, newspapers or magazines, or subscriptions to newspapers or magazines, without having first registered with the Town Clerk and giving the following information:

The name, home address and local address, if any, of the registrant;
The name and address of the person, firm or corporation, if any, that he represents or for whom or through whom orders are to be solicited or cleared;
The nature of the articles or things which are to be sold, or for which orders are to be solicited;
Whether the registrant upon any sale or order, shall demand, receive or accept payment of any deposit of money in advance of final delivery;
The length of time for which the right to do business is desired;
The place where the goods or property proposed to be sold, or orders taken for the sale thereof, are manufactured or produced, where such goods or products are located at the time said application is filed and the proposed method of delivery;
A copy of the applicant’s Oklahoma Sales Tax Permit including the sales tax permit number, or if the application is charitable organization, a copy of the applicants Oklahoma Sales Tax Exemption.

Section 5-2. Definitions.

As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section:

“Canvasser” means one who in a given area, goes from house to house in an effort to take orders for goods.
“Interstate commerce” means soliciting, selling or taking orders for any goods, wares, merchandise, photographs, newspapers or magazines, or subscriptions to newspapers or magazines which, at the time the order is taken, are in another state or will be produced in another state and shipped or introduced into this city in the fulfillment of such order.
“Itinerant merchant” means those persons who, for a short period of time, locate in a city and make sales and deliveries of their goods as established merchants do.
“Solicitor” means any person who goes from house to house, or place to place, in the city, filling or taking orders for, or offering to sell or take orders for goods, wares, merchandise or any article for future delivery.

Section 5-3. Orders.

Orders taken by solicitors or canvassers shall be in writing, in duplicate, stating the terms thereof and the amount paid in advance; one copy shall be given to the purchaser.

Section 5-4. Hours of Operation.

No solicitor or canvasser shall operate in any residential section in the Town except between the hours of 9:00 am and dusk. The provisions of this Chapter shall not prevent the delivery of goods to a regular customer under any general or customary arrangement as might be made with a regular clientele; nor shall its provisions apply to vendors or farm or dairy products, the sale of insurance policies by insurance companies and its salesmen licensed under the sate insurance code, or to the gratuitous dissemination of any materials with respect to noncommercial matter.

Section 5-5. License: Exhibition of: Application.

It shall be unlawful for any person to act as a solicitor within the meaning and application of this Chapter without first securing a license from the Town Clerk; provided, however that none of the license fees provided for by this Section shall be so applied as to occasion an undue burden upon Interstate Commerce.
Any person soliciting or canvassing within the Town of Tryon shall exhibit his license upon demand of any police officer, constable, citizen or householder of the Town of Tryon, Oklahoma.
Any person desiring to engage in any activity mentioned in this article shall make written application to the Town Clerk for a license to do so, which application shall show the name and address of the person the applicant represents, the kind of goods offered for sale and whether the applicant, upon any sale or order, shall demand or accept a payment or deposit of money in advance of the final delivery and the length of time for which the right to do business is desired; this application shall also contain any other requirements of information previously specified in other sections of this article.

Section 5-6. License Fee: Term of License: Bond.

The fee for an itinerant merchant’s, solicitor’s or canvasser’s license shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00). In case the applicant is engaging in any activity mentioned in sections of this article through one or more agents or employees. Provided, however, that each agent designated shall carry upon his person an individual license which shall have been issued through the Town Clerk of the Town of Tryon. Fees provided for herein shall be deposited to the general fund of the Town of Tryon.
None of the license fees provided for by this Article shall be so applied as to occasion an undue burden upon interstate commerce. In any case where a license fee is believed by a licensee or applicant for license to place an undue burden upon interstate commerce, he may apply to the city commission of the Town of Tryon for an adjustment of the fee so that it shall not be discriminatory, unreasonable or unfair as to such commerce. Such application may be made before, at or within three (3) months after payment of the prescribed license fee. The applicant shall, by affidavit and supporting testimony, show his method of business and the gross volume, or estimated gross value, of business and such other information as the city commission may deem necessary in order to determine the extent, if any, of such undue burden on such interstate commerce. The city commission shall then conduct an investigation, comparing applicant’s business and shall fix as the license fee for the applicant an amount that is fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory, or if the fee has already been paid, shall order a refund of the amount over and above the fee so fixed.
Any license issued under this Article shall be valid for on (1) year from the date of issuance.

Section 5-7. License to be Carried on Person.

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in any activity described in this Article unless he is carrying on his person, while so engaged, a valid license issued under this article.

Section 5-8. Revocation of License.

Permits and licenses issued under the provisions of this article may be revoked by the Board of Trustees of the Town of Tryon, Oklahoma, after notice and hearing for any of the following causes:
1. Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement contained in the application for license;
2. Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement made in the course of carrying on his business as a solicitor or a canvasser;
3. Any violation of this Article;
4. Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude;
5. Conducting the business of soliciting or of canvassing in an unlawful manner or in such a manner as to constitute a breach of the peace or constitute a menace to the health, safety or general welfare of the public.
Notice of the hearing of revocation of a license shall be given in writing, setting forth specifically the grounds of complaint and the time and place of hearing. Such notice shall be mailed, postage prepaid, to the licensee at his last known address at least five (5) days prior to the date set for hearing.

Section 5-9. Exemptions.

The provisions of this Article shall not apply to sales made to dealers or retailers by any commercial travelers or sales agent in the usual course of business, nor to sales made in the ordinary course of business, nor shall the provisions of this Article prevent the delivery of goods to a regular customer under any general or customary arrangement as might be made with a regular clientele. Neither shall the provisions of this Article apply to vendors of farms or dairy products or the sale of insurance policies by insurance companies and their salesmen licensed under the State Insurance Code, nor to the gratuitous, dissemination of any materials with respect to noncommercial matter. It is also further provided that any individual under the age of eighteen (18) years of age who engages in soliciting, canvassing or peddling within the Town of Tryon, Oklahoma shall not be covered by the provisions of this Article.

Section 5-10. Violations: Penalty.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this Chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) not including costs. Each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense.

Town of Tryon