Solicitor / Canvasser (ROH 13-5.1)
Legally, Solicitors (or Canvassers) are individuals that travel and take orders for future delivery of goods or services rather than selling and handing over a physical product on the spot.
Local statutes and legal guidelines establish that street performing does not fall under this definition for several distinct reasons:
- 🅐 The Statutory Definition Prohibits It: According to ROH Chapter 13, Article 5, a "solicitor or canvasser" is strictly defined as someone taking or attempting to take orders for the sale of goods, wares, merchandise, or future services. A street performer allowing tips is not executing a sales transaction or taking orders for future commercial delivery.
- 🅑 Lack of Mobility: The law specifically targets individuals "traveling by foot, or any other type of conveyance". Because a street performer sets up at a single, fixed location to put on a show rather than moving from door-to-door or approaching pedestrians on the move, they do not fit the functional profile of a transient solicitor.
- 🅒 The "Voluntary" Distinction: Under local enforcement guidelines, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi notes that Honolulu Police Department enforcement targets commercial activity, not street performing itself. Informing an audience that tips are accepted is legally categorized as an invitation for an optional donation, not a solicitation for a commercial contract.