Jo Daviess County, IL tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Jo Daviess County, IL tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Illinois sells tax lien certificates paying up to 9%. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Oct 6, 2026.
How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Jo Daviess County, seat of Galena: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Illinois tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next tax deed sale
- Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction.
- Format
- In person
- County office
- 815-777-0355
On this page
How Jo Daviess County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Jo Daviess County Treasurer (ex officio County Collector), Melisa Hammer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Held once a year in October, in person.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register in writing at least 10 working days before the sale; the 2026 deadline is October 2, 2026. File the county's Certificate of Registration and Single Bidder Rule affidavit with the Treasurer and pay the $250.00 registration fee. Payment is by personal or cashier's check with a credit reference from your bank. Each tax buying entity may have only one registered buyer, and related bidding entities may not register separately. Attendance is required: the county does not accept bids by mail or telephone. Bring a name stamp if you have one.
Sale format and venue
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Sheriff or a court-appointed private selling officer, under an order of the circuit court. A county acting as trustee runs its own tax deed auctions.
- Frequency
- as ordered by the circuit court
- Typical timing
- Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Terms of a judicial tax deed auction, including whether it runs online, in person, or both, and what deposit is required, are set in the court's order and published in the notice of tax deed auction. That notice runs once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, starting no more than 45 days and ending no less than 7 days before the auction. Read the notice for each parcel; there is no statewide platform or standing bidder registration.
Sale format and venue
Jo Daviess County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Jo Daviess 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. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Confirm the advertised parcel list
Use 2026 parcel and mobile home delinquent tax lists (PDF), Jo Daviess County Treasurer as a starting reference. Check which sale or list it covers; a Lands Available or office information page is separate from an auction parcel list. Ask the sale office for the advertised parcels for the auction you plan to attend.Register to bid
Ask the Jo Daviess County Treasurer how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the Jo Daviess County Treasurer before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the Jo Daviess County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Jo Daviess County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
Open 2026 parcel and mobile home delinquent tax lists (PDF), Jo Daviess County Treasurer. Confirm whether this reference contains the auction parcels or covers a different list. Get the advertised parcel list from the county before you price a bid, and recheck it before the sale.Confirm registration and deposit
Terms of a judicial tax deed auction, including whether it runs online, in person, or both, and what deposit is required, are set in the court's order and published in the notice of tax deed auction. That notice runs once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, starting no more than 45 days and ending no less than 7 days before the auction. Read the notice for each parcel; there is no statewide platform or standing bidder registration.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Illinois due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Illinois before you price the title work.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 liens and deeds
Certificates nobody bids on at the annual sale are forfeited to the county as trustee for the taxing districts. The county may then assign a forfeited certificate to any party or sell property it has acquired, which many counties handle through a delinquent tax agent rather than a public counter. Counties may also offer county-held certificates at a scavenger sale with a minimum bid of $250, or half the tax when total liability is under $500. Ask the county collector and the county clerk which program the county runs and who may buy.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Illinois calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
County notes
- The Jo Daviess County Treasurer is Melisa Hammer. The office is open Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4 pm, closed holidays.
- The delinquent list becomes available about three weeks after the second installment due date (September 8, 2026). A $10.00 charge for publication and mailing is added to each listed property. Owners who believe a parcel is listed in error should call the Treasurer at 815-777-0355 immediately.
- The Jo Daviess sale is a lien sale only. The county does not hold its own tax deed sale; a certificate holder must pursue a tax deed through the circuit court after the redemption period.
- Redemption is handled by the Jo Daviess County Clerk and Recorder, who also serves as tax extender. Clerk's office: 330 North Bench Street, County Courthouse Suite 1C, Galena, IL 61036, phone 815-777-0161.
- Joseph E. Meyer & Associates is the county's delinquent tax agent. It manages parcels not bought at the annual sale through the trustee program, obtains tax deeds once redemption expires, and resells them. Contact: PO Box 96, 141 Saint Andrews Ave, Edwardsville, IL 62025, phone (618) 656-5744.
- The county's 2024 Final Distribution Settlement Sheet lists back tax collected on parcels sold by trustee and by Joseph Meyer, confirming the agent arrangement.
- The 2026 August sealed bid auction carried a minimum bid of $831.00. At the August 22, 2025 auction, vacant lots and strips in Apple River, Dunleith, Guilford, Stockton and Thompson townships sold for about $968 to $4,000, and several items went unsold. Parcels sell as is and may be hazardous, condemned or slated for demolition.
- County officers, county employees and their relatives may not purchase at the agent's auction, and the county may reject any bid or withdraw any parcel without notice.
- Sheriff's sales are a separate process run by the Jo Daviess County Sheriff's Office, held online through the Roup auction platform since June 1, 2026, with payment made in person at the Sheriff's Office.
- Parcel tax records are searchable at the county's DEVNET portal, https://jodaviessil.devnetwedge.com.
Illinois rules
- Redemption
- Property sold at an Illinois tax sale may be redeemed at any time before the redemption period expires. Public Act 104-0553 set the standard period at 3 years from the date of sale for tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026. Certificates issued between January 1, 2024 and July 9, 2026 run on the earlier 2.5 year (30 month) track, and on that track the certificate holder could file a written notice with the county clerk extending redemption to a date no later than 3 years from the sale. A short 1 year period applies when the parcel was, on the date of sale, vacant non-farm property, commercial or industrial property, or improved with a structure holding 7 or more residential units. Certificates the county holds or assigns as trustee run on their own schedule under Section 21-385, and an assignee must file notice within 60 days of assignment setting a redemption deadline no later than 3 years from the assignment.
- Deed deposit
- Illinois does not fix a statutory deposit percentage. Deposit and payment terms are set in the court's order authorizing the auction and by the selling officer, so read the notice of tax deed auction for each sale. A purchaser who fails to complete the sale forfeits any deposit already made to the county surplus equity fund, and the court orders a new auction of the property.
- Surplus proceeds
- Any amount by which the winning bid exceeds the minimum bid is surplus. Once 30 days have passed after the court confirms the sale, the selling officer deposits the surplus with the county treasurer, who notifies everyone who received the Section 22-10 take notice that the owner at the time of the sale may file a claim for it. A county running its own tax deed auction deposits surplus with the treasurer within 30 days of the sale and notifies interested parties within 60 days. Separately, a previous owner who lost equity through a tax deed can claim an award from the county surplus equity fund, capped at the value of the property when the deed issued less mortgages, liens, and the taxes the purchaser paid.
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 Jo Daviess County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Jo Daviess County tax certificate sale?
How often does Jo Daviess County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Jo Daviess County tax sale list?
Verified Oct 6, 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 office that runs the sale before you bid.
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