Capitol Police is the only law enforcement agency in Hinds and Madison counties currently establishing a system to issue permits to individuals who solicit in the area it patrols.
The city of Ridgeland is not establishing permits for soliciting because its board of aldermen voted to opt out of the law, known as the Safe Solicitation Act, that the Legislature passed during the 2025 session.
The city of Madison is studying the law to determine what would be best for the city, while the city of Gluckstadt mayor and board of aldermen have not yet considered it.
The city of Jackson announced in September it planned to let the law go into effect and then meet with the Jackson Police Department to determine how to enforce it locally. The Capitol Complex Improvement District, which Capitol Police patrols, includes the primary business areas and downtown Jackson and those are locations where panhandling tends to occur.
The Safe Solicitation Act, which provides specific details about when and where solicitation can take place and provides penalties for anyone who violates those, took effect on July 1 and is binding throughout the state unless a county or municipality opts out through a vote by the board of supervisors or the governing authority of the municipality by Jan. 1, 2026.
The Ridgeland Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance to opt out of the Safe Solicitation Act during its Nov. 2 meeting.
Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee said the reason for the city opting out is simple: “We have an adopted ordinance that is more thorough.”
The city of Madison is evaluating the law to determine what’s right for the city, said Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler.
“The city of Madison adopted an ordinance governing transient vendors and solicitors in 1991,” she said. “Since that time, our ordinance has addressed the city’s needs.”
Gluckstadt Mayor Walter Morrison said he and the board of aldermen have not discussed the issue.
Peter Teeuwissen, interim chief administrative officer for the city of Jackson, told the city council on Sept.23 that Jackson Mayor John Hohrn’s administration recommended allowing the six-month opportunity to opt out to pass and then meeting with the Jackson Police Department to determine how to enforce it locally.
“This administration recommends allowing the law to take effect and not try to establish a permitting system,” he said.
In September, Sean Tindell, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, said that Capitol Police Chief Bo Luckey had sent the proposed permit to the Department of Public Safety’s attorneys to review.
“Legal is looking over that now,” he said. “We’re trying to finalize it.”
Until the permitting process begins, Capitol Police officers have been educating anyone they see soliciting that a permit will soon be required, he said.
Tindell expects people who panhandle and do not comply with the law to eventually get tickets. Law enforcement officers can use their discretion and determine if a ticket is merited or a warning, he said, just as they can in many situations.
“The goal is to make sure that individuals are safe, that we don’t have too many people in one area and that they’re doing it in locations that by law are allowed,” he said.
Under the Safe Solicitation Act, solicitation can take place only between the hours of 9 a.m. and one hour before sunset.
The law prohibits a solicitor from impeding traffic and requires that he or she enter or remain in a roadway, street or thoroughfare only while controlling traffic signal prohibits vehicular traffic. A solicitor must remain within 100 feet of or from the intersection approved by the permit.
Solicitation activities are not supposed to interfere with the “safe and efficient movement of traffic and shall not cause danger to the participants or the public,” according to the legislation.
No one soliciting “shall persist after solicitation has been denied, act in a demanding or harassing manner, or use any sound or voice-amplifying apparatus or device,” according to the law.
According to the law, only one permit will be issued for an intersection on any given day. Permits, which are not supposed to cost more than $25, are to be issued on a first-come basis and will require the individual seeking one to list his or her name, mailing address and telephone number plus the location and times the solicitation will occur.
The legislation gives the governing authority the right to “stop solicitation activities at any time if the conditions or requirements of the legislation are not met.”
Anyone guilty of intentionally obstructing or interfering with the “normal use” of vehicles or pedestrians on a public street or highway or sidewalk will be guilty of a misdemeanor. Conviction of such would carry a fine of not more than $400 or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than four months or both.
