Chapter 5.16
STREET SOLICITATION; PERMITS FOR STREET SOLICITATION
Sections:
5.16.040 Investigation and issuance.
5.16.060 Solicitation regulations, locations and times.
5.16.070 Violations, enforcement.
5.16.010 General provisions.
Definitions. Except as otherwise provided, for purposes of this Ordinance:
“Applicant” shall mean the charitable organization seeking a permit.
“Charitable Organization” means organizations which are qualified under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; Indiana registered non-profit corporations, churches; and public and private schools. Charitable organizations must also either be registered with the Indiana Secretary of State under Indiana Code § 23-17 et seq. or be exempt from such registration and must provide proof that tax exempt status has been applied for and/or approved by a county in the State of Indiana.
“Commissioners” means Board of Commissioners of Vanderburgh County.
“Event” means any charitable solicitation within the County.
“Event Permit” means a permit issued pursuant to this Ordinance to conduct an event.
“Organizer” means the person of at least eighteen (18) years of age responsible for organizing the event and whose name shall be on the application.
“Permit” shall mean an event permit.
“Sheriff” means the Sheriff of Vanderburgh County or his or her designee.
“Solicitor” means any person who engages in solicitation.
“Solicitation” or “Charitable Solicitation” means the act of asking for employment, business or contributions on a public road, street, highway, right-of-way, sidewalk or other public property from the occupant of any vehicle or any pedestrian.
“Travel Lanes” means the marked lanes on a road or highway, or the lanes of travel for vehicles, including turn lanes, access lanes, and accelerations or deceleration lanes.
(5.16.010, Added, 06/21/2005)
5.16.020 Restrictions.
Permit Required. No person, business or organization shall engage in solicitation on any public street or highway in Vanderburgh County without an Event Permit. Charitable organizations may engage in solicitation on any public street or highway in the County if such organization obtains an Event Permit pursuant to this Ordinance. Persons, businesses and organizations that are not charitable organizations as defined in this Ordinance are not eligible to receive an Event Permit for solicitation. An Event Permit shall be obtained from the Sheriff. An Event Permit is not required for any Event sponsored or conducted by Vanderburgh County or its departments and agencies, nor by any municipality or government agency in Vanderburgh County.
(5.16.020, Added, 06/21/2005)
5.16.030 Permit requirements.
A. Permit Application. All requests for a Permit must be provided to the Sheriff at least five (5) business days but no more than sixty (60) calendar days prior to the date of the requested event. If approved, the Sheriff shall issue an Event Permit within three business days of the application being filed. The Sheriff, for good cause shown, shall have the authority to consider an application under this section if filed less than five (5) business days prior to the requested Event, provided the Sheriff shall have adequate time to conduct the investigation. An application and Permit shall be required for each Event.
B. Location of Charitable Organization. To be eligible for an Event Permit, the Charitable Organization must be based in or have a chapter or affiliate office located in Vanderburgh County or in one of its contiguous Indiana counties.
C. Required Information. All applications for Permits must include at a minimum the following information and shall be signed by the Organizer(s):
1. Name and address of charitable organization, including headquarters address and address of the Vanderburgh County office, or the address of the closest branch office if there is no Vanderburgh County office;
2. Type of organization and certification, if listed below. The organization must be one of the following types to apply for a Permit:
a. Organization qualified under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, including certification from IRS;
b. Non-profit corporation registered in Indiana, including certification from Indiana Secretary of State. In addition, the corporation must provide proof that either tax exempt status has been applied for and/or approved by any county in Indiana or that taxes have been paid;
c. Church; or
d. Public or private school;
3. Name of Organizer(s), and address, telephone number, height, weight, age, sex, race and social security number of each organizer for purposes of conducting a background check;
4. Photocopy of driver’s license or other official photo identification of each Organizer;
5. Proposed solicitation activity and purpose for activity (ie: use of funds);
6. Specific location(s) for solicitation activity, including specific intersections, and number of solicitors at each such location;
7. Dates and times of solicitation activity;
8. Names of all participants proposed to be solicitors, and their ages;
9. If any solicitors are under eighteen (18), the names and addresses of adult supervisors. One adult supervisor per four solicitors under age eighteen (18) is required;
10. If the Event is to be held on behalf of any person or organization other than the applicant, a communication in written form from that person or organization authorizing the applicant to apply for the Permit;
11. The application shall contain a statement that the submission of the application shall be considered to be consent by the organizer(s), the charitable organization, and the officers of the organization for a background check to be run by the Sheriff at this discretion on any person named on the application, and a statement that all information contained thereon is true and correct;
12. The Organizer shall also sign a waiver thereby relieving Vanderburgh County of any and all liability arising and or connected with the Solicitation; and
13. Any additional information the Sheriff may find reasonably necessary for a fair determination as to whether the proposed event will endanger public health, safety or welfare.
D. A minimum of one organizer is required for an Event. No more than five persons shall be designated as organizers for any Event. A minimum of one (1) organizer is required to be at the Event in person at all times. There shall be a minimum of one organizer for each location where solicitation is occurring. All Events shall be conducted under the supervision of a person or persons making application for the same (the organizer) and shall be conducted in a peaceable and orderly manner in compliance with the laws and ordinances applicable thereto.
E. Permit Onsite. The signed Permit is to be kept on-site in the possession of an organizer at all times that solicitation is underway. If multiple locations are involved, a Permit copy shall be kept at each location by each organizer. Permits shall be displayed at the request of any citizen or law enforcement personnel.
(5.16.030, subsections A & B amended 2/17/2009, 5.16.030, Added, 06/21/2005)
5.16.040 Investigation and issuance.
A. Investigation. The Sheriff shall review the application for completeness and compliance with the terms of this Ordinance. The Sheriff shall check if the charitable organization is registered with the Indiana Secretary of State. The Sheriff shall determine whether there are any records of complaints against the applicant or organizers in the records of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff, in his or her discretion, may conduct a background check of the organizer(s) or corporate officers, or any other person named on the application. The Sheriff may, at his or her discretion, make any other inquiries they deem necessary for the investigation of the application or the organizer(s).
B. Issuance. The Sheriff may grant, deny or grant a restricted Permit. The Sheriff shall issue a Permit as provided in this Ordinance from a consideration of the application and from such information as may otherwise be obtained, unless the Sheriff finds that any of the following apply:
1. The conduct of the event will substantially interrupt the safe and orderly movement of traffic;
2. The conduct of the event will substantially interrupt the safe and orderly movement of fire fighting equipment en route to a fire or other emergency services;
3. The applicant or any organizers or participants have any criminal complaints pending against them, or have a criminal record involving crimes of theft, fraud, or other moral turpitude;
4. The applicant is not a qualifying charitable organization or is otherwise not a legitimate organization;
5. The Sheriff has reason to believe the event is a fraud or sham;
6. A charitable organization required to be registered with the Indiana Secretary of State is not so registered;
7. The conduct of the event is contrary to the public’s health, safety or general welfare; or
8. The application was not complete or the application or Permit requested are not fully in compliance with the requirements of this Ordinance.
C. Restrictions. The Sheriff may indicate on the Event Permit the permitted activities, locations, and times of the event. The Sheriff may approve a smaller or shorter event than requested, may reduce the number of solicitors, may approve a different location, or may generally make any other adjustments they believe necessary to the application to serve the public health, safety and welfare.
D. Non-Content Based Review. The content of the message of any applicant, their beliefs, the identification of participants, or any other matter which does not directly impact the public health, safety and welfare, shall not be relevant to the determination of whether to grant or deny a Permit.
(5.16.040, Added, 06/21/2005)
5.16.050 Appeals.
A. Appeals. Any person aggrieved by the denial or restriction of an Event Permit shall have the right to appeal the denial or restriction to the Commissioners. A written appeal shall be filed with the Commissioners.
B. Procedure. The Sheriff shall appear and present his case and evidence as to why the application was denied. The applicant shall have the opportunity to present its case and evidence in support of the application.
C. Standard of Review. The Commissioners, keeping in mind the purpose of this Ordinance, the substantive provisions, and giving deference to the judgment of the Sheriff, shall make a determination as to whether the denial or restriction was lawful and in the interests of public health, safety and welfare, or whether the Permit should be issued or modified. If the latter, the Commissioners shall enter an order providing guidance as to the location, times, persons and other criteria of this Ordinance.
(5.16.050, Added, 06/21/2005)
5.16.060 Solicitation regulations, locations and times.
A. Prohibited Times. No solicitation shall be allowed at any time after sunset or before sunrise, as such time is determined by the Farmer’s Almanac.
B. Locations. Solicitation shall be allowed at intersections with a median strip of at least four feet in width where the solicitors can be located. Solicitors are required to stay on median strips, sidewalks or otherwise out of the street. When all vehicles are stopped at an intersection, solicitors may approach cars to receive donations if the occupants have indicated they seek to make a donation. Walking along a line of cars shall only be permitted if the solicitor stays out of the travel lanes. No more than one organization may solicit at the same intersection at the same time. An event may occur at more than one location or intersection on the same day; provided, however, that an event may occur at no more than five (5) locations on the same day.
C. Attire. All persons engaged in solicitation must wear an orange safety vest which shall be purchased by the persons, business or organization participating in the Event. The orange safety vests shall be worn by each Solicitor at all times during an Event. Any person participating in an Event without a safety vest will be in violation of this Ordinance.
D. Duration. An event may last no longer than two days. A separate Permit shall be required for each additional event (i.e. six days would require three Permits).
E. Solicitors under 18. All charitable organizations which are permitted to solicit funds must have one adult supervisor over the age of twenty-one (21) for every four persons under the age of eighteen (18). No person under the age of fourteen (14) is permitted to solicit funds under this Ordinance.
(5.16.060, Added, 06/21/2005)
5.16.070 Violations, enforcement.
A. Any violation of this Ordinance shall immediately revoke the Permit. The Sheriff shall also have the discretion to revoke the Permit upon charge of violation being made, or upon awareness of illegal or unauthorized activity, if revocation is required in the best interest of public health, safety and welfare.
B. Any person, organization, business or entity found guilty of violating this Ordinance may not be issued a Permit for a two-year period from the date of the violation. Upon second offense, the person, organization or entity found guilty of violating this Ordinance shall be banned from further solicitation in Vanderburgh County.
C. The County Attorney shall be authorized to seek injunctive relief and other relief in Superior Court if necessary to effectuate the intent of this Ordinance. The County shall be entitled to seek civil fines in the amount specified above, and shall be entitled to its attorney’s fees for any successful action.
(5.16.070, Added, 06/21/2005)
5.16.080 Repealer.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed.
(5.16.080, Added, 06/21/2005)
5.16.090 Severability.
If any paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase or any portion of this Ordinance shall be declared invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, or if any provision of any part of this Ordinance as applied to any particular situation or set of circumstances shall be declared invalid, or unconstitutional, such invalidity shall not be construed to affect the remaining portions of this Ordinance not so held to be invalid, or the application of this Ordinance or other circumstances not so held to be invalid. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Commissioners to provide for separable and devisable parts as they do hereby readopt any and all parts hereof as may not be held invalid for any reason.
(5.16.090, Added, 06/21/2005)