Peddler rule up for review

June 14--After receiving a fair amount of complaints about people soliciting without a license, Knox County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr. said he wants to see more enforcement of the $55-a-month peddler license or the ordinance should be dumped.

Knox County Commission is expected to discuss the ordinance in their 2 p.m. Monday work session. Some agreed the policy could be updated for the 21st century.

The ordinance currently requires door-to-door solicitors, who aren't affiliated with religious or nonprofit groups, to register with the county. Salespeople with a physical business located in Knox County are not required to be licensed.

Arnett's proposed change would require licenses for peddlers of any business.

"It's not really being paid attention to," Arnett said. "We propose that we put some teeth into it and start enforcing it."

The proposed change includes language that would require a background check performed by the Knox County Sheriff's Office.

The rule's intent, said Arnett, was to protect residents. He referred to a 2001 case in which door-to-door magazine salesman Rodger Eric Broadway raped and murdered Eskalene DeBorde in her West Knox County home.

"I just want to look out for the public," Arnett said.

Commissioner Mike Brown, a former door-to-door salesman, said the proposed ordinance needs more clarification. He talked about the 40 years he spent selling life insurance.

"I'm already paying a license fee to the state to be able to sell in the state of Tennessee," Brown said. "I should be able to sell in my own home county."

The permit requirement could be a holdover from a bygone era, according to Brown, back when people such as the Avon lady or the Fuller Brush guy rang doorbells.

"The tinker man, with the truck, where he takes your pot with a hole in it, fixes it up on his bus and he's onto the next house," Brown said, "those days are gone."

Permit enforcement is another issue, according to Arnett and others. He said he only hears of peddlers without permits when someone complains.

"If people decide to come into Knoxville or Knox County and solicit, we have no way of knowing it," said Arnett.

In 2014 there were 112 such permits issued.

Talks on the policy are expected to continue past Monday. Commission Chairman Brad Anders said he plans to ask commissioners to postpone discussion while options for an updated rule are researched.

"Do we leave it as-is," Anders said, "or find a way that makes better sense?"

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