Saline County, AR tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Saline County, seat of Benton: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Arkansas tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- Redemption closes at 4:00 p.m. Central on Monday, August 31, 2026, the last business day before the sale.Monday · 2026
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- Registration opens one hour before the auction at the sale site and costs nothing.
- County office
- 501-303-5620
On this page
How Saline County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands. Saline County holds no tax sale of its own: the Saline County Tax Collector bills, penalizes and advertises delinquent real estate, then certifies unredeemed parcels to the Commissioner, who publishes the catalog, conducts the auction and issues the deed.
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Redemption closes at 4:00 p.m. Central on Monday, August 31, 2026, the last business day before the sale.
- Registration
- Registration opens one hour before the auction at the sale site and costs nothing.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Registration opens one hour before the auction at the sale site and costs nothing. Fill out a numbered bidder registration card, hand it to a Commissioner of State Lands employee and keep the opposite half as your bidder number. Parcels are called in sale number order as printed in the catalog, and the minimum bid is the taxes, interest, penalty and costs due as of the sale date. Winning bidders pay in full immediately after the auction, in the exact amount, by personal or business check, cashier's check, money order, or credit or debit card. Cash is not accepted, card transactions carry a 4% non-refundable processing fee, and no extra time is given to reach a bank. For the online post-auction sale, open an account at auction.cosl.org, clear third-party identity verification as a U.S. resident with a valid U.S. address and identification, and keep a credit or debit card on file. The first $100 per parcel is charged to that card and the balance must reach the Commissioner within 10 business days of the auction's close, by card or by certified funds mailed to 7003 Valley Ranch Drive, Little Rock, AR 72223-4696. Postmarks do not count.
Sale format and venue
Saline County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Saline County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid.
Get the advertised list
Use Public Auction Catalog (select Saline) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
Redemption closes at 4:00 p.m. Central on Monday, August 31, 2026, the last business day before the sale. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands. Saline County holds no tax sale of its own: the Saline County Tax Collector bills, penalizes and advertises delinquent real estate, then certifies unredeemed parcels to the Commissioner, who publishes the catalog, conducts the auction and issues the deed. as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Saline County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Public Auction Catalog (select Saline). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Registration opens one hour before the auction at the sale site and costs nothing. Fill out a numbered bidder registration card, hand it to a Commissioner of State Lands employee and keep the opposite half as your bidder number. Parcels are called in sale number order as printed in the catalog, and the minimum bid is the taxes, interest, penalty and costs due as of the sale date. Winning bidders pay in full immediately after the auction, in the exact amount, by personal or business check, cashier's check, money order, or credit or debit card. Cash is not accepted, card transactions carry a 4% non-refundable processing fee, and no extra time is given to reach a bank. For the online post-auction sale, open an account at auction.cosl.org, clear third-party identity verification as a U.S. resident with a valid U.S. address and identification, and keep a credit or debit card on file. The first $100 per parcel is charged to that card and the balance must reach the Commissioner within 10 business days of the auction's close, by card or by certified funds mailed to 7003 Valley Ranch Drive, Little Rock, AR 72223-4696. Postmarks do not count.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Arkansas due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold properties
Thirty calendar days after the live auction, every parcel that drew no qualifying bid moves to the Commissioner's online unsold-property auction and stays there until it sells, is redeemed, or is withdrawn. Nothing is priced over a counter: the first online bid starts a 30-calendar-day auction period that closes at 8:00 p.m. Central on the thirtieth day, other registered bidders may outbid during it, and the Commissioner mails the owner and interested parties notice when the first bid arrives. Within two years of the live auction the reserve stays at the taxes, penalty, interest, fees and costs; two years or more after it, the Commissioner may negotiate a price he determines is in the best interest of the state and the local taxing units. Online bidders must pass an identity check as a United States resident and keep a card on file; the winner's card is charged $100 in earnest money immediately and the balance is due in certified funds within 10 business days.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax sale office
County notes
- Saline County bidders do not have to leave the county. The auction is held in Benton, the county seat, at the River Center gym on Citizens Drive, and a single bidding room covers Saline, Perry, Hot Spring and Grant counties, so parcels from four counties are called in the same session.
- The Collector publishes the names and addresses of delinquent taxpayers in the local newspaper and on Facebook, and the Commissioner of State Lands runs its own legal notice in the county newspaper before the sale. Real estate left unpaid after October 15 takes a 10% penalty plus a $1.50 advertising fee, with a $2.50 redemption fee to clear it. Land still unpaid one year after that October 15 forfeits to the State of Arkansas and is certified to the Commissioner, with certification due by July 1.
- The Saline catalog carries a standing notice for unimproved lots in Hot Springs Village. A winning bidder does not take on the former owner's unpaid assessments, but the notice sets a one time buy-in fee of $300 for the first property purchased, a $150 transfer fee for each property purchased and an ongoing monthly assessment fee of $50.42 on each property, and warns that unpaid assessments can draw a lien from the Hot Springs Village Property Owners Association. Confirm the current amounts with the association and price the carrying cost into any Village bid.
- Improvement district assessments survive a tax sale, and Saline County carries an unusual number of them: 88 districts filed 2025 taxpayer transparency reports, covering places such as Hurricane Lake, Carrington Place, Shannon Hills, Westcliffe and Hunter Crossing. Each report names contacts for that district. Pull the report for a parcel's district from the Collector's transparency page before you bid, since the assessment becomes the new owner's bill.
- Owners can redeem right up to 4:00 p.m. Central on the last business day before the sale, and the Saline catalog already shows many entries cancelled, so check that a parcel is still in play the morning of the auction and listen for the stricken list read at the sale.
- Redemption figures and tax history on a parcel that has not yet certified come from the Collector at 215 N. Main St., Suite 3 in Benton, 501-303-5620, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, with a second office in Bryant at 101 NW Third St., Suite G. Once a parcel certifies, the catalog, the auction and the deed belong to the Commissioner of State Lands real estate office at 501-324-9422.
Arkansas rules
- Redemption
- The clock is long even though the deadline is hard. The county collector holds the delinquent land for one year after the October 15 delinquency date, certification to the Commissioner of State Lands follows no later than July 1 of the next year, and the sale date must be no earlier than one year after certification, so an owner normally has more than two years from the missed payment. What the owner does not get is any post-sale window. The Commissioner's office states that, effective July 1, 2023, parcels sold through its office cannot be redeemed and all sales are final, at live auctions and through the online unsold-property auction alike. Payment has to be received by the 4:00 p.m. deadline; postmarks are not accepted. A quoted redemption figure holds for 30 days unless the parcel sells, the county amends its records, or further costs accrue.
- Deed deposit
- There is no statutory bidder deposit at the live auction and no registration fee. Registration opens one hour before the sale at the sale site against a photo ID and a driver's license number, and the successful bidder tenders the full purchase price at the time of the sale. The online unsold-property auction works differently: registration requires identity verification and a card on file, and the winning bidder's card is charged $100 in earnest money immediately on notification.
- Surplus proceeds
- Money above the taxes, fees, penalties, interest and costs due at the time of sale is excess proceeds. Within one year of receipt the Commissioner pays penalties, collection fees and sale costs to his own office and the delinquent taxes, interest and costs to the county. The remainder is held for one year from the date of the limited warranty deed, then applied on application to delinquent personal property taxes, state tax certificates of indebtedness and delinquent solid waste assessments. Of whatever is left, 10 percent up to a maximum of $500 goes to the Commissioner for administering the distribution and the rest is payable to the former owner on a complete claim packet. Excess proceeds are held two years and then escheat by operation of law to the county. A former owner, part owner or interested party who buys the parcel at the tax sale is not entitled to any distribution, and a third-party recovery agent's fee may not exceed 10 percent.
A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Saline County, Arkansas sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Saline County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Saline County tax sale list?
Verified Aug 22, 2026 against official county and state sources.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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