Scott County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Scott County, seat of Winchester: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
Verified Jul 30, 2026 against official county and state sources.
New here? Read how Illinois tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Scott County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Scott County Treasurer's Office (the County Treasurer serving as ex officio County Collector), assisted by the Scott County Clerk
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The county publishes no tax sale date. Its Treasurer page states only that "The Treasurer, assisted by the County Clerk, conducts an annual sale of delinquent real estate taxes, delinquent mobile home taxes and unpaid special assessments." The same page's 2026 payment schedule reads "PROPERTY TAX BILLS WERE MAILED ON JUNE 08, 2026. 1ST INSTALLMENT PAYMENT WILL BE DUE ON JULY 17, 2026. 2ND INSTALLMENT PAYMENT WILL BE DUE ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2026," so the annual sale can only follow the second installment delinquency. Call the Treasurer's office to confirm the current year's sale date and time.
Registration and deposit
Scott County posts no bidder registration instructions, deposit amount, or sale notice on its website. Request the registration deadline, bidder forms, and deposit terms directly from the Treasurer's Office at (217) 742-3368 or [email protected].
Scott County is a small west-central Illinois county (population 5,204 per the Illinois Treasurers Association listing) and has no dedicated tax sale page. Its Treasurer office page confirms the office runs the annual sale of delinquent real estate taxes, delinquent mobile home taxes, and unpaid special assessments, and the Clerk & Recorder page confirms that office collects delinquent taxes and reimburses tax buyers, which is the redemption side. Neither page lists a sale date, a bidder registration process, a deposit, a bidding method, or a delinquent list. No online auction platform is confirmed for this county's annual certificate sale, so plan on a county-run sale handled at the courthouse in Winchester and verify the format with the office before committing funds. Caution on a lookalike listing: iltaxsale.com shows a Scott County auction dated 09/11/2026, "Real Estate - Sealed Bid," minimum bid $863.00, with a location line naming Mark Ford, Treasurer, Scott County Courthouse. That site belongs to Joseph E. Meyer & Associates, which states it serves as "the Delinquent Tax Agent for 94 of 102 counties in Illinois" and that "Properties not purchased by tax buyers at the County Tax Sales are enrolled in the trustee program... After the redemption period expires on delinquent properties, Joseph E. Meyer & Associates obtains tax deeds on behalf of the taxing districts and sells the properties at public auction." The purchase contract in the Scott County terms document names the seller as the County "as Trustee" and directs payment to "COUNTY TRUSTEE." That is a trustee tax deed sale of property the county already carried through the process, not the Collector's annual certificate sale, and the two should not be treated as the same event. For that trustee sale, bids go in online at iltaxsalebids.com or by sealed written bid with full payment delivered to the Treasurer's office by the last day to bid, with no verbal bidding. The same trustee page also offers a paid list of assignable tax lien certificates for $25, which is the nearest thing to a secondary certificate list for this county.
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. Public Act 104-0553 created this route for tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026, so the earliest Illinois judicial tax deed auctions fall in 2027, after the 1 year short redemption track 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.
Bidding opens at the tax deed judgment amount plus 0.75 percent per month since judgment, plus publication and selling officer costs. The petitioning certificate holder is entered as a credit bidder at that minimum. Surplus above the minimum goes to the county treasurer for the former owner to claim.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
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.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Notes for Scott County
- County Treasurer and FOIA Officer: Mark J. Ford. Deputy Treasurer: Shelley Whewell. Office email: [email protected], fax (217) 742-5853.
- Courthouse hours on the county site are Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, closed holidays. The Illinois Treasurers Association listing gives property tax hours as Monday to Friday 8:00 to 4:00, so call ahead over the midday break.
- Redemption is a County Clerk function. The Clerk & Recorder page states that office collects delinquent taxes and is responsible for reimbursing tax buyers, and the county's tax inquiry system tells taxpayers with sold taxes to call the county clerk for amounts due.
- The county's tax records run on Fike & Fike software, reachable through the "Access Your Property Tax Information" link on the Treasurer page. The lookup has no stable per-county URL, so select Scott from the county dropdown.
- No county-published sale notice, bidder registration packet, or delinquent list was found, which is why timing and platform are unconfirmed rather than reported. Confirm both by phone before the sale.
Illinois statewide 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. Within 30 days 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 Scott County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Scott County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Scott County tax certificate sale?
- The county publishes no tax sale date. Its Treasurer page states only that "The Treasurer, assisted by the County Clerk, conducts an annual sale of delinquent real estate taxes, delinquent mobile home taxes and unpaid special assessments." The same page's 2026 payment schedule reads "PROPERTY TAX BILLS WERE MAILED ON JUNE 08, 2026. 1ST INSTALLMENT PAYMENT WILL BE DUE ON JULY 17, 2026. 2ND INSTALLMENT PAYMENT WILL BE DUE ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2026," so the annual sale can only follow the second installment delinquency. Call the Treasurer's office to confirm the current year's sale date and time.. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the Tax Collector before the sale.
How often does Scott County hold tax deed sales?
- as ordered by the circuit court. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
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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