Marion County, KS tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Redemption runs before the sale here, not after it. The owner may redeem at any time up to the moment a parcel is offered, and redeemed parcels are pulled from the auction, so the published list shrinks right up to sale day. The county's bidder sheet states there is no redemption period after the sale except for parcels subject to a 120 day Internal Revenue Service redemption right, and buyers of those parcels do not receive a deed until at least 120 days after the sale.
• •Title does not pass at the hammer. The Marion County District Court holds a confirmation hearing about three weeks after the auction, ownership stays with the current owner until the sale is confirmed, and bidders cannot enter a property before then without the owner's permission. Budget three to four weeks from sale day to a recorded sheriff's deed.
• •Treat title as a live risk. The county warns that an owner or interested party can file an action after the sale asking that it be set aside, in which case the property could revert to the original owner and the court could order the purchase price refunded. Marion County furnishes no abstract of title, no title commitment and no title evidence, and makes no assurance that a title company will insure a tax sale parcel, so talk to a local title company before you spend money on improvements or resell. The county's attorney cannot give purchasers legal advice on these proceedings.
• •Real estate taxes unpaid for three years are referred for a judicial tax foreclosure suit. Taxes unpaid on August 1 are published in the official county newspaper for three consecutive weeks each August under K.S.A. 79-2301 to 79-2323a, which is the earliest public signal of which parcels may reach the auction a year or more later.
• •County owned parcels move on a separate track through the Marion County Land Bank, 200 S. 3rd St., Suite 101, Marion, 620-382-3318. The Land Bank publishes a property inventory and reviews written purchase proposals, with the county commissioners sitting as the board of trustees and making the final decision on conveyances.
• •Do the diligence yourself before bidding. Check location, zoning, building restrictions and special assessments with the city and county, appraised value and tax rates with the County Appraiser, and easements and restrictive covenants with the Register of Deeds. Addresses, maps and photographs published with the sale list are not warranted as accurate.

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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