Jackson County, KS tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Jackson County clears delinquent real estate through a judicial foreclosure filed in district court, and the Sheriff then sells the parcel at public auction in Holton. There is no certificate to buy and no online auction platform.
• •Three offices matter to a bidder here. The Treasurer, Lisa Miller, holds the delinquent tax roll and takes payment at 785-364-3791. The County Counselor, Todd Luckman of the Topeka firm Stumbo Hanson, files and prosecutes the foreclosure and fields questions about the parcels at 785-364-2891. The Sheriff's Office at 210 US 75 Hwy, Holton, conducts the auction and can be reached at 785-364-2251.
• •Real estate taxes are delinquent after December 20 and accrue interest. The county has told its commissioners that a parcel becomes eligible for the tax sale after three years of delinquency, even where the owner is making payments on the back taxes.
• •Sheriff's sales at the courthouse are held on Mondays at 9:00 am on the first floor of the courthouse at 400 New York Ave. Confirm the specific date for any tax sale with the Sheriff's Office, because the tax sale itself is scheduled case by case rather than on a set annual calendar.
• •Parcels that draw no bid at the tax sale become county property and are resold afterward by sealed bid or private sale. On a sealed bid the county applies the proceeds to taxes first, then to special assessments, and any remaining balance on the specials is wiped out so the parcel starts clean for the new owner. The Board of County Commissioners decides these dispositions in open session, so its weekly minutes are the place to watch for unsold inventory.
• •Watch for special assessments before you bid. City specials are the reason several Jackson County parcels went unsold, and the county has discussed asking cities to waive them to move the lots back onto the tax roll.

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.K.S.A. 79-2401a - Redemption of real estate bid off by county; period of redemptionK.S.A. 79-2401aVerified Aug 23, 2026

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.K.S.A. 79-2804 - Order of sale; publication notice; sheriff's sale; deed, execution and recordationK.S.A. 79-2804Verified Aug 23, 2026

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.K.S.A. 79-2803 - Judgment; redemption before day of sale; apportionment of costs and surplusK.S.A. 79-2803Verified Aug 23, 2026

Governing statute

K.S.A. Chapter 79, Article 28 (79-2801 et seq.)K.S.A. 79-2801 - Action to enforce lien for unredeemed real estate bid in by countyK.S.A. 79-2801Verified Aug 23, 2026

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.

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