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Tax Sale Atlas

Jefferson County, MO tax sales

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Jefferson County, seat of Hillsboro: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Missouri tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
There is no separate deed auction.
Format
In person
Registration
Register in person at the Collector's office to get a bid number.
County office
636-797-5406
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 22, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Jefferson County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Jefferson County Collector of Revenue
Frequency
annual
Registration
Register in person at the Collector's office to get a bid number.
Sale list
Land Sale Listing Book (PDF)
When it runs
Fourth Monday in August at 10 a.m. The Collector's FAQ says the sale "is held in the Assembly Room on the main level in the Administration Building at 729 Maple St, Hillsboro MO 63050. It is held on the fourth Monday in August each year and starts promptly at 10:00am." The 2026 bidder packet puts sale day on Monday, August 24, 2026. Everything on which taxes are three years delinquent is offered: "all lands and lots on which taxes are 3 years delinquent are offered for sale on the fourth Monday of August each year."
Registration and deposit

Register in person at the Collector's office to get a bid number. For 2026 the office issues numbers the week before the sale, August 17 through 21, and states it will not issue any bid number after 9 a.m. on sale-day Monday, August 24. Bring a current Missouri driver's license to prove Missouri residency, and be at least 18. You must return a notarized affidavit, included in the bidder packet, stating you are not delinquent on any tax payments on any property. Sign it in front of the notary rather than beforehand, and fill it out exactly as you want the Collector's Deed to read. No bid number is issued if you owe any real estate or personal property tax. If a second name goes on the affidavit, both people must sign and both must come in to return it. A corporation, company or partnership must hand in a current copy of its Articles of Incorporation and a current Certificate of Good Standing from the Secretary of State before a number is issued. An out-of-state bidder must appoint a Jefferson County agent, both parties sign the affidavit, and the agent does the bidding; the Certificate of Purchase and the Collector's Deed are issued to the agent only. Keep the bid number, because you cannot bid without it. Payment is due the day of the sale, within two hours after all properties have been offered, by cash, check, cashier's check, money order, or debit or credit card with a 2.5 percent processing fee.

Sale format and venue
Jefferson County runs a Chapter 140 tax certificate sale live in the Assembly Room of the Administration Center in Hillsboro, and no online auction platform is used. Parcels go to the highest bidder, and the Collector issues a Certificate of Purchase rather than a deed. The Collector posts the Land Sale Listing Book in June under Land Sale Documents, grouped into first, second and third offerings with the delinquent years and total sale due for each parcel, and the list also runs in The Countian for three consecutive Fridays before the sale. Volume has averaged about 300 properties offered over the past four years. On redemption, "the tax & costs portion of your original investment will earn simple interest at the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum," so any premium bid above taxes and costs earns nothing. First and second offerings carry a one-year wait before a Collector's Deed; a third offering can deed 90 days after the notification dates. The purchaser runs the title search, sends certified notice of redemption rights to the owner and every interested party, and must finish the paperwork inside 18 months or lose the interest in the property with no refund or reimbursement. Send the Collector every subsequent tax receipt, reasonable title search fee and mailing cost, because unreported costs are not reimbursed if the taxpayer redeems. This is a tax lien, not possession: there is no immediate access, and the property sells as is where is, subject to mortgages, liens, encumbrances and title defects that may not appear in the land records. Parcels still unsold after three offerings pass to the Jefferson County Delinquent Tax Trustee and can be bought from the Trustee at any time of year.
Source: Land Sale, Jefferson County Collector of Revenue· Verified Aug 22, 2026

Tax deed sale

Run by
County Collector
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
There is no separate deed auction.
When it runs
There is no separate deed auction. Deeds come out of the same August sale once a parcel has cycled past the third offering, and unsold post third offering parcels are re-offered at least once every 30 days. A purchaser at a post third offering sale takes an immediate collector's deed with no redemption period.
Sale format and venue
A first or second offering buyer holds a certificate and must wait out the one year redemption period, obtain a title search, serve the 90 day notice of the right to redeem on the owner and every recorded claimant by both first class and certified mail, file the affidavit with the collector, pay all subsequent taxes and the recording fee, and get the deed executed and recorded within 18 months of the sale. Miss the 18 months and the amount due the purchaser stops being a lien. A third offering buyer follows a shorter version, with a 90 day redemption period and notice to recorded claimants within 45 days of the sale. Counties that have elected the Land Tax Collection Law in Chapter 141 pull those parcels out of the collector's offering lists entirely and foreclose in court, and the sheriff sells them there, so confirm which chapter this county runs.
Source: Missouri Revised Statutes 140.405 - Purchaser of property at delinquent land tax auction, deed issued to, when, notice of right of redemptionMo. Rev. Stat. 140.405· Verified Aug 18, 2026

Jefferson County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Jefferson 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Land Sale Listing Book (PDF) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Register in person at the Collector's office to get a bid number. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    There is no separate deed auction. 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.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use County Collector as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Jefferson County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Land Sale Listing Book (PDF). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Register in person at the Collector's office to get a bid number. For 2026 the office issues numbers the week before the sale, August 17 through 21, and states it will not issue any bid number after 9 a.m. on sale-day Monday, August 24. Bring a current Missouri driver's license to prove Missouri residency, and be at least 18. You must return a notarized affidavit, included in the bidder packet, stating you are not delinquent on any tax payments on any property. Sign it in front of the notary rather than beforehand, and fill it out exactly as you want the Collector's Deed to read. No bid number is issued if you owe any real estate or personal property tax. If a second name goes on the affidavit, both people must sign and both must come in to return it. A corporation, company or partnership must hand in a current copy of its Articles of Incorporation and a current Certificate of Good Standing from the Secretary of State before a number is issued. An out-of-state bidder must appoint a Jefferson County agent, both parties sign the affidavit, and the agent does the bidding; the Certificate of Purchase and the Collector's Deed are issued to the agent only. Keep the bid number, because you cannot bid without it. Payment is due the day of the sale, within two hours after all properties have been offered, by cash, check, cashier's check, money order, or debit or credit card with a 2.5 percent processing fee.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Missouri due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.

  4. 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

Missouri publishes no standing over the counter certificate list. The equivalent route is the post third offering sale. Parcels that draw no buyer at a third offering must be advertised or offered again once every 30 days, and where the county's appointed trustee declines to take a parcel the collector may sell it at any time and for any amount. A buyer at any of these sales gets an immediate collector's deed, no redemption period, and must first pay every tax that fell due after the taxes named in the advertisement. Parcels the trustee did take are held for the taxing funds and sold on order of the county commission. Ask the collector for the current post third offering list and its bidding terms, because the format varies by county.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Jefferson County Collector of Revenue

636-797-5406

729 Maple Street, Suite 36, Hillsboro, MO 63050 (mail: P.O. Box 100, Hillsboro, MO 63050)

Official website

County notes

  • Collector Michelle Worth conducts the tax certificate sale. The office sits in Suite 36 of the Administration Center at 729 Maple Street, Hillsboro, and is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reach it at 636-797-5406 or [email protected].
  • Tax bills are usually mailed in mid-November and are delinquent after December 31, and a parcel reaches the August sale once taxes are three years delinquent.
  • Research every parcel before bidding. The Collector's packet warns that a property may carry mortgages and other fees, that it sells as is where is subject to liens, encumbrances, claims and title exceptions that may or may not be recorded, and that a winning bidder gets no immediate access.
  • The Collector points bidders to Chapter 140 of the Missouri Revised Statutes for the sale itself and to Section 140.405 for the Collector's Deed timeline, and states the office cannot give legal advice.
  • There is a second, year-round path into the same inventory. Property held in trust by the Jefferson County Delinquent Tax Trustee may be bought at any time by submitting a Trustee bid form. A bid that meets or exceeds the taxes plus fees and costs can be closed by Trustee's Deed; a lower bid may be rejected or taken to the County Council, after which bidding opens to adjoining landowners. The county guarantees no clear title on Trustee sales. Reach Trustee Sharon Kost at 636-797-6292 or [email protected].
  • Registration closes before the gavel, not at it. Bid numbers are issued only during the week before the sale and never after 9 a.m. on sale-day Monday, so a bidder who arrives at 10 a.m. without a number cannot participate.

Missouri rules

Max interest rate
10% per year, set by statute (bidding is on price)
Minimum return
No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the price at the sale
Redemption
After a first or second offering sale, the owner and other interested parties hold an absolute right to redeem for one year, then a defeasible right that lasts until the purchaser actually acquires the deed. A purchaser must serve the 90 day notice of the right to redeem before the date on which the deed can be acquired, so the practical window usually runs past the one year mark. After a third offering sale, redemption runs 90 days, and the purchaser must give notice to recorded claimants within 45 days of the sale. After a post third offering sale, there is no redemption period and the deed issues immediately. Minors and incapacitated or disabled persons have a longer right, running five years from the last payment of taxes by that person or a predecessor. The right also ends if the certificate lapses because the purchaser failed to record the deed within 18 months.
Deed deposit
The winning bidder must pay the full amount of the bid to the collector immediately at the sale. Chapter 140 sets no advance bidder deposit and no balance due window. A bidder who fails to pay forfeits a penalty of 25 percent of the bid to the county school fund and the parcel is offered again at once as though no sale had been made. Counties running an online or registered sale may impose their own deposit and registration terms on top of the statute, so confirm them with the collector.
Surplus proceeds
Any amount above the taxes and costs is surplus. The collector pays it into the county treasury, where the treasurer holds it in trust for the lesser of three years or 90 days after the redemption period expires. It is distributed first to the former lienholders of record in the priority their liens held on the date of the sale, then to the former owner. No distribution other than through the redemption process may occur until 90 days after the redemption period ends, and a claimant must file a written claim with the county commission within those 90 days, referencing the recorded lien it rests on. The county pays no interest on the fund. Anything still unclaimed at three years becomes the permanent school fund of the county.
Governing statute
Mo. Rev. Stat. Chapter 140

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.

See the full Missourirules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Jefferson County, Missouri sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Jefferson County follows Missouri's tax lien state system.

When is the Jefferson County tax certificate sale?

Fourth Monday in August at 10 a.m. The Collector's FAQ says the sale "is held in the Assembly Room on the main level in the Administration Building at 729 Maple St, Hillsboro MO 63050. It is held on the fourth Monday in August each year and starts promptly at 10:00am." The 2026 bidder packet puts sale day on Monday, August 24, 2026. Everything on which taxes are three years delinquent is offered: "all lands and lots on which taxes are 3 years delinquent are offered for sale on the fourth Monday of August each year." The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Collector before the sale.

How often does Jefferson County hold tax deed sales?

Jefferson County holds its tax deed sale once a year. There is no separate deed auction. 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. Missouri's redemption rule: 1 year from a first or second offering sale, 90 days from a third offering sale, and none after a post third offering sale. Call the County Collector 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 Jefferson County tax sale list?

Jefferson County posts its tax sale list at jeffcomo.gov. 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 22, 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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Missouri tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Jefferson County Collector of Revenue