Except as provided herein, no person shall stand
in the roadway of a highway to stop, impede, hinder or delay the progress
of a vehicle for the purpose of soliciting contributions for any cause
or soliciting the purchase of goods, merchandise or tickets, and the
only question of law and fact in determining guilt under this section
shall be whether goods, merchandise or tickets were tendered or offered
for sale, or whether a contribution was solicited.
A charitable organization shall, for the purposes
of this article, be defined as:
A. Any person determined by the federal Internal Revenue
Service to be a tax-exempt organization pursuant to § 501(c)
(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3);
or
B. Any person who is, or holds himself out to be, established
for any benevolent, philanthropic, humane, social welfare, public
health, or other eleemosynary purpose, or for the benefit of law enforcement
personnel, fire fighters or other persons who protect the public safety,
or any person who in any manner employs a charitable appeal as the
basis of any solicitation, or an appeal which has a tendency to suggest
there is a charitable purpose to any such solicitation.
A charitable organization as defined in §
155-30 shall, upon application to the Chief of Police, be authorized to solicit contributions in the roadway of a highway, other than interstate highways, subject to regulations promulgated pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act (N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq.) by the Department of Transportation in consultation with the Division of Highway Safety, and further provided that:
A. In any instance where the solicitation shall take
place on a state highway or intersection of a state highway, the organization
shall secure the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation prior
to requesting approval from the Chief of Police.
B. In any instance where the solicitations shall take
place on a county highway or intersection of a county highway, the
organization shall secure the approval of the Morris County Board
of Freeholders prior to requesting approval from the Chief of Police.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions
of this article shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $100.