White County, AR tax sales
How tax deed sales work in White County, seat of Searcy: 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
- White County parcels come up once a year at a live Commissioner of State Lands auction.
- Format
- County site
- County office
- 501-279-6206
On this page
How White County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands, Real Estate Division. White County holds no tax sale of its own. Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-101(a)(2) bars county-level sales of tax-delinquent land, so the White County Tax Collector bills, advertises and then certifies unredeemed parcels to the Commissioner of State Lands, and the Commissioner auctions them on behalf of all 75 counties.
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- White County parcels come up once a year at a live Commissioner of State Lands auction.
- Sale list
- Public Auction Catalog
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Registration opens one hour before the 10:00 a.m. sale at the auction 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 catalog sale-number order, and the minimum bid is the taxes, interest, penalty and costs shown in the catalog as of the sale date. The winning bidder pays in full immediately after the auction, with no time allowed to leave and retrieve funds, so bring exact payment. Personal or business checks, cashier's checks, money orders and credit or debit cards are accepted; cash is not, and card transactions carry a 4% non-refundable processing fee. To bid the online post-auction sale instead, register at auction.cosl.org with a valid credit or debit card on file. The first $100 per parcel is charged to that card and the balance is due within 10 days of the auction's close.
Sale format and venue
White County tax sale list and auction calendar
For White 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 for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
White County parcels come up once a year at a live Commissioner of State Lands auction. Bidding runs on County site; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands, Real Estate Division. White County holds no tax sale of its own. Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-101(a)(2) bars county-level sales of tax-delinquent land, so the White County Tax Collector bills, advertises and then certifies unredeemed parcels to the Commissioner of State Lands, and the Commissioner auctions them on behalf of all 75 counties. as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in White County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Public Auction Catalog. 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 10:00 a.m. sale at the auction 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 catalog sale-number order, and the minimum bid is the taxes, interest, penalty and costs shown in the catalog as of the sale date. The winning bidder pays in full immediately after the auction, with no time allowed to leave and retrieve funds, so bring exact payment. Personal or business checks, cashier's checks, money orders and credit or debit cards are accepted; cash is not, and card transactions carry a 4% non-refundable processing fee. To bid the online post-auction sale instead, register at auction.cosl.org with a valid credit or debit card on file. The first $100 per parcel is charged to that card and the balance is due within 10 days of the auction's close.
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
- White County parcels are sold in Searcy, but the room is shared. The same Commissioner of State Lands session covers Independence, Jackson and Woodruff counties, so confirm you are bidding from the White County catalog and not a neighbour's.
- Pre-sale questions about what is owed on a specific parcel go to the White County Tax Collector at 501-279-6206 while the taxes are still county-side. Once a parcel is certified to the state, the amount and any redemption run through the Commissioner of State Lands Petition to Redeem process instead.
- The minimum bid is only the delinquent taxes, interest, penalty and costs, which is why rural White County tracts open low. Price the parcel yourself before the gavel: the state warrants no access, no usable condition and no clear title, and payment is due in full the moment the auction ends.
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 White County, Arkansas sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does White County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the White 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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