Can I hand out flyers on a sidewalk in front of private property?
I want to hand out informational flyers in train stations in St. Louis, specifically. I was told by Metro that this was not allowed. My legal question is two-fold: One, can they do this, being a publicly funded organization? and Two: could I hand out flyers on the sidewalk in front of stations, since this is public property for sure?
the building might be but the trains running thru there arent, and merchants selling inside arent, the taxis out front arent, and, and ...
Find out if you need to obtain a permit of any kind from the city. If you're on public property, not being disruptive, not being a nuisance against the train station, then I don't see how they can say you can't do this.
Answers:
It varies from city to city as well as for different states. So your best bet is to contact the local police department and ask them. I am a nightclub promoter in Hollywood, California. I hand out flyers for my events outside of other clubs almost every night of the week. We are allowed to flyer the patrons as they leave various other venues as long as we are on the sidewalk, which is public property, and do not pose a hazard by blocking the flow of people exiting the club. Only one time were we challenged by a venue bouncer who said we were not allowed to do it. He threatened to call the police if we did not leave. Instead of leaving we called the police for him. They came out and told the bouncer and the venue manager that we were within the law for our city and state. Good luck.
You need a Permit from your city hall.
It might not be a State law against it, you need to make sure that is not against the City Ordinance.
Usually just handing out flayers is not considered soliciting, but you might need a permit to do so.
It also depends on who you represent ( I.e non-profit etc.)
