King County law on solicitors
Published 8:25 am Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Two years ago, the King County Council took steps to regulate solicitors in unincorporated areas with a new regulation.
The regulation prohibits commercial solicitors from contacting residents who have posted ‘No Trespassing’ or ‘No Soliciting’ signage on their property.
Similar regulations already are in place in many King County cities. Residents, they said, wanted protection from what they described as “aggressive solicitors such as magazine salesmen who harass neighbors and perpetrate scams.”
The restriction on solicitation does not apply to political, religious or charitable activities by nonprofit organizations such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, in order to avoid any conflict with First Amendment rights to free speech.
Solicitors who ignore signage and try to contact a resident anyway face a civil infraction with a fine of $100.
