Ellis County, KS tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Ellis County, seat of Hays: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Kansas tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- No fixed annual date.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- No preregistration is required to bid on a property.
- County office
- 785-628-9465
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 24, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Ellis County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Ellis County Sheriff, under an order of sale from the Ellis County District Court, with the notice and current listing held by the Ellis County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No fixed annual date.
- Registration
- No preregistration is required to bid on a property.
- Sale list
- Tax sale notice and current listing
When it runs
No fixed annual date. Ellis County holds a tax sale only when foreclosed tracts are ready. The Treasury tax sale page states there are currently no tracts eligible for tax sale in 2026 and that the next sale is expected to be announced in summer 2027.
Registration and deposit
Sale format and venue
This is a live, in person sheriff's sale held in the county administrative building, not an online auction, and Ellis County names no third party bidding portal. With no tracts eligible in 2026, ask the Treasury for the current listing before planning a trip. Owners may redeem at any time up to the moment of sale, so the roster can shrink right up to the auction. Ownership stays with the current owner until the district court confirms the sale, and bidders may not enter a property without the owner's permission. The county expects buyers to check location and property type, city and county zoning, building restrictions and special assessments, appraised value and current tax rates, and easements and restrictive covenants before bidding.
Source: Tax Sales, Ellis County Treasury· Verified Aug 24, 2026
Ellis County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Ellis 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 Tax sale notice and current listing for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
No fixed annual date. 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 Ellis County Sheriff, under an order of sale from the Ellis County District Court, with the notice and current listing held by the Ellis County Treasurer's Office as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Ellis County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Tax sale notice and current listing. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Kansas 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
Kansas counties sell no tax lien certificates and keep no over-the-counter certificate list. What a county can hold is real estate it bought in at its own sheriff's sale. The commissioners keep a record of every such parcel that is open to public inspection, and the board sells them at private or public sale for cash, at a price of at least the original judgment lien plus interest, the costs in the order of sale, and every subsequent tax and special assessment. Six months after the sale to the county is confirmed the board may reduce the price and take sealed bids after advertising for three consecutive weeks, or sell at public auction to the highest cash bidder. Ask the county clerk or county counselor for the current county-owned list, and check whether the county has a land bank.
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
- The annual delinquent real estate list runs in the Hays Daily News for three consecutive Fridays before the first Tuesday of September, under K.S.A. 79-2301 to 79-2323a. The 2025 list, first published August 1, 2026, adds a $16 advertising fee per parcel plus interest to the tax owed.
- Parcels still unpaid on September 1 are sold to the county under K.S.A. 79-2302, which starts the redemption period rather than transferring the property. The county's own notice says a foreclosure suit and sheriff's sale follow only if the taxes stay unpaid through the statutory period.
- Ellis County posts its sheriff's sale notice on the Treasury tax sale page rather than on a statewide platform. Call the Treasurer's Office at 785-628-9465 for the current listing and watch the Hays Daily News for the published sale bill.
- Ellis County lists a County Attorney at 785-628-9405 and no separate county counselor. Sale logistics, payoff figures and the current property listing belong with the Treasurer's Office.
- First half real estate taxes are due December 20 and the second half on May 10. Taxes still unpaid on August 1 of the following year go into the published delinquent list.
Kansas rules
- Redemption
- Kansas redemption has two stages, and both close before the auction. Stage one is K.S.A. 79-2401a: once the treasurer bids the parcel off to the county in September, the county holds it for three years for a homestead under section 9 of article 15 of the Kansas Constitution and for all real estate not described in K.S.A. 79-2401a(a), two years where the parcel was bid off for both delinquent taxes and special assessments, and one year for an abandoned building or structure and the land accommodating it, meaning one that has been unoccupied for at least a year with a failure to perform reasonable maintenance. During that window the owner pays the county treasurer directly. On the three-year track a PARTIAL redemption is allowed: paying the taxes for one or more years, starting with the earliest year the parcel was carried on the tax-sale book, plus interest at the K.S.A. 79-2004 rate, pushes back the date a foreclosure sale may be commenced by the number of years paid. The Johnson County paragraph applies the same partial payment to the most recent year instead of the earliest, and it does not carry the extension sentence. Stage two is K.S.A. 79-2803: after the petition is filed the treasurer may no longer take ordinary payments, but the owner or holder of record title, their heirs, devisees, executors, administrators, assigns, or any mortgagee or mortgagee's assigns may still redeem at any time BEFORE THE DAY OF SALE by filing an application to redeem with the clerk of the district court and paying the clerk a share of the costs, being whatever the court orders or, absent an order, 5 percent of the lien amount stated in the petition for that parcel plus any charges chargeable separately against it. The treasurer then computes the full taxes, charges, interest, and penalties, issues a redemption certificate in triplicate, and the sheriff strikes the parcel from the order of sale. Once the sale happens the right is gone. Kansas gives no post-sale redemption period and no right to buy the property back after the sheriff's deed. What exists after the sale is a twelve-month window under K.S.A. 79-2804b to open, vacate, modify, or set aside the judgment, the order of sale, or the sale. That is a title challenge, not redemption: it is available to parties attacking the proceedings, it requires grounds, and it does not let a former owner simply pay the taxes and take the parcel back.
- Deed deposit
- Kansas fixes no statewide deposit percentage and no statutory bidder registration. K.S.A. 79-2804 is silent on deposits, so the terms are whatever the sheriff publishes for that sale. The statute does require one payment at the auction itself: the register of deeds filing fee for the sheriff's deed is collected from the successful bidder at the time of sale and deposited with the register of deeds at recording. Confirm the county's accepted funds, any registration step, and the payment deadline before bidding, and expect certified funds.
- Surplus proceeds
- If a parcel sells for more than the judgment lien for taxes, interest, penalty, and charges plus its share of the costs, charges, and expenses of the proceedings and sale, the court orders the excess paid, upon due proof, to the owner or the party entitled to it. The court apportions costs across the parcels sold as soon as practicable after the sale, deducts the total costs from the gross proceeds, and equitably apportions the balance to each parcel that sold for more than its share. The clerk pays that balance to the county treasurer, who prorates it among the state, city, township, school district, and other taxing units in proportion to their interest in the lien, and cancels the taxes charged against the parcel. Tax liens on every parcel sold or redeemed in the action are satisfied and discharged of record.
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 Ellis County, Kansas sell tax liens or tax deeds?
Tax deeds. Kansas sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the county sells the property itself at a public tax sale.
How often does Ellis County hold tax deed sales?
Ellis County holds its tax deed sale once a year. No fixed annual date. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Kansas's redemption rule: Runs BEFORE the sale and ends on the day of the sheriff's sale. One, two, or three years from the county's September bid-off depending on the parcel, then a further right to redeem at the courthouse until the day of sale. Kansas has no redemption period after the sale. Call the Ellis County Sheriff, under an order of sale from the Ellis County District Court, with the notice and current listing held by the Ellis County Treasurer's Office as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.
Where can I find the Ellis County tax sale list?
Ellis County posts its tax sale list at ellisco.net. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.
Verified Aug 24, 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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