Vacuum salesmen win lawsuit

Door-to-door vacuum salesmen cannot be restricted by a Kaysville city ordinance — at least not as much as city officials would like.

In a ruling issued this past week, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell said the city's ordinance, which requires licencing of door-to-door salesmen, was so arbitrary and restrictive as to make it unconstitutional.

The suit was filed three years ago by several Kirby Vacuum Co. distributors and independent contract salesmen after several were jailed for soliciting without a license.

The group has sued 24 Utah cities over their various ordinances, claiming many of them violate their First Amendment right to free commercial speech.

The ruling, which was issued Thursday, means that Kaysville is legally liable for the violations. The only question remains how much money they will have to pay out, said Jim Merrell, attorney for the companies and salesmen.

Kaysville passed its first ordinance regarding door-to-door solicitors in September 2001, banning all commercial door-to-door solicitation. Over the next three years, the city amended the ordinance several times to repeal the ban and instead restrict issuing solicitor licenses.

City officials said the intent of the ordinance is to ensure the privacy and welfare of residents as well as protect them from fraud and other criminal behavior. But Kirby sued, saying the licensing scheme was unconstitutional and their business was hurt since the first solicitation ordinance was passed.

"I think the city has a legitimate interest in properly licensing and regulating door-to-door sales people," said Kaysville City Attorney Felshaw King. "I guess the question has now become to what lengths can the city constitutionally and legally go into the licensing process?"

Kaysville Mayor Brian Cook said the ruling is disappointing.

"These ordinances were adopted because the people asked for them," he said.

Merrell said Campbell has ordered both parties into mediation to hammer out a settlement. If his clients and Kaysville cannot reach a resolution in the following months, the case still could go to trial, Merrell said.

Several federal suits against other cities are pending. Since the suits were filed, many cities have either dropped their ordinances or declared that they will not enforce their ordinances regarding solicitation.

One suit against Pleasant Grove has already been appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, which is expected to rule in the next few weeks. When asked what impact the appellate ruling might have on other cases, Merrell said the impact would be minimal, because the issue appealed had to do with an injunction his office sought against Pleasant Grove and not the core issue of door-to-door sales.

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