Brule County, SD tax sales
How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Brule County, seat of Chamberlain: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how South Dakota tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- No fixed calendar.
- County office
- (605) 234-4436
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 31, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Brule County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Brule County Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- Brule County publishes no online bidder portal and no pre-registration packet.
- Next expected
- on the third Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
When it runs
Third Monday of December each year, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., at the Brule County Courthouse in Chamberlain. The treasurer may adjourn the sale from day to day until every certificate has been offered.
Registration and deposit
Sale format and venue
Bidding runs the interest rate down, not the price up. Every bidder offers the same amount, the full delinquent tax, interest and costs, and competes by naming the lowest annual interest rate they will accept. The lowest rate stated wins, and no bid above ten percent a year is valid. South Dakota sets no minimum rate, so a contested parcel can be bid toward zero. The winning rate runs from the date of purchase on the certificate amount and on any later taxes the holder pays to protect the lien. Certificates that draw no bidder may be bid off in the county's name, and the treasurer may afterward sell an unsold certificate at the office to anyone who pays the taxes, penalty and costs due. On redemption the county commission may deduct a fee of up to fifty dollars from the money paid out to the certificate holder.
Source: SDCL 10-23-8, Offer of Tax Certificate and Receipt of Bids· Verified Aug 31, 2026
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Brule County Board of Commissioners
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No fixed calendar.
When it runs
No fixed calendar. When Brule County takes a tax deed it must declare the property surplus and sell it within one year of the deed, with notice published at least twice and the first publication at least thirty days before the sale date.
Registration and deposit
Sale format and venue
South Dakota holds no separate investor tax deed auction. A certificate holder starts a deed proceeding no earlier than three years after the certificate sale, serving a notice of intention to take a tax deed on the owner of record, the occupant and the person the property is taxed to, with other interested parties served by certified mail or by publication once a week for two successive weeks. The right to redeem ends sixty days after the affidavit of completed service is filed with the treasurer, who then issues the deed. Taking the deed does not let a private holder keep the land: the holder must offer the property at public auction within one year and is compensated only in the amount a redemption would have paid, so the return is the interest, not the real estate.
Source: SDCL 10-25-39.2, Public Auction of Property Acquired by Tax Deed· Verified Aug 31, 2026
Brule County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Brule 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. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Get the advertised list
A county sale-list URL is still being verified. Use the office and platform details on this page before relying on a copied list.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
No fixed calendar. The auction platform is still being verified. Confirm the next sale date and registration window with the county before you bid.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Brule County Board of Commissioners as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Brule County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
The county sale-list URL is still being verified. Use the county office contacts below and confirm the advertised parcels directly before you price a bid.Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the South Dakota due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in South Dakota before you price the title work.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 liens and deeds
Three routes exist and each runs through a county office. A certificate that stayed unsold for want of bidders must be sold at private sale at the treasurer's office to any person who pays the taxes, penalty and costs due. A person may also buy the county's interest in a certificate the treasurer bid off, by paying the taxes, penalty, interest and costs of sale and transfer plus every unpaid and subsequent tax, after which the treasurer assigns the certificate and the buyer holds the rights of an original purchaser. Both routes are closed in a county whose commissioners have not waived SDCL 10-23-28.1. Separately, tax deed property the county offered that drew no bid may be sold at private sale within twelve months for not less than ninety percent of the appraised value, without further publication or appraisal. Ask the county treasurer about certificates and the county auditor about unsold deeded parcels.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what South Dakota calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
County notes
- The Brule County Treasurer runs the certificate sale at the courthouse at 300 S. Courtland St. in Chamberlain. The office posts no sale notice or bidder packet on its website, so call (605) 234-4436 in November for the sale-day details and the parcels going to sale.
- Brule County's official newspaper is the Central Dakota Times. The delinquent list is published there once during the week before the sale, and that notice is the only published parcel list a bidder gets.
- Brule County property taxes are due April 30 and October 31. The certificates offered in December cover the prior year or years that remain unpaid.
- A certificate is not open ended. If a deed proceeding is not completed within six years of the certificate sale, the certificate, the tax lien and the lien for any subsequent taxes the holder paid are cancelled and forever barred.
- County held certificates can be picked up outside the December sale. Anyone may pay the treasurer the taxes, penalty, interest and costs plus unpaid subsequent taxes, and the treasurer assigns the county's certificate over with the same rights the original purchaser would have had.
South Dakota rules
- Redemption
- There is no fixed redemption deadline that starts at the sale. SDCL 10-24-1 lets any person redeem at any time before a tax deed is issued. What sets the outer limit is the deed process: SDCL 10-25-1 bars the certificate holder from starting that process until three years after the certificate sale, and SDCL 10-25-8 keeps the right to redeem alive until sixty days after the affidavit of completed service of the notice of intention is filed with the treasurer. Missing that sixty-day window passes the owner's, mortgagee's and lienholder's interests to the certificate holder. After the deed is recorded, the former owner has one hundred eighty days to bring an action to recover possession or to avoid the deed, which is a limitation period rather than a further right to redeem.
- Deed deposit
- Chapter 6-13 sets no deposit for a cash sale. A buyer taking an installment contract must deposit the cash portion with the fiscal officer as soon as the bid is accepted, and the board can still decline to approve the sale, in which case the deposit is returned. A separate rule bars a bidder from the sale entirely: under SDCL 10-25-45 a county may refuse a bid from any person who is not current on all property taxes due within that county. Payment methods and any county-set deposit are county practice rather than statute, so confirm them with the county before bidding.
- Surplus proceeds
- The county first deducts the expenses of taking the tax deed and of the sale. What remains is prorated to the taxing districts on the levies for the most recent year included in the proceeds until all tax and interest is paid. Any surplus left after taxes, penalty, interest, county liens and other costs must be returned to the prior owner of record, and if that owner cannot be found within one hundred eighty days the surplus is transferred to the Unclaimed Property Division under SDCL chapter 43-41B. The same distribution binds a private buyer. SDCL 10-25-39.2, effective February 12, 2024, requires any person other than a county who acquires property by tax deed after being issued a tax certificate to offer that property at public auction under chapter 6-13 within one year of the deed, and entitles that seller only to compensation in the same manner as a redemption under SDCL 10-24-1. A South Dakota certificate is therefore a route to being paid what the certificate is worth, not a route to keeping the land.
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 Brule County, South Dakota sell tax liens or tax deeds?
Brule County follows South Dakota's tax lien state system.
When is the Brule County tax certificate sale?
Third Monday of December each year, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., at the Brule County Courthouse in Chamberlain. The treasurer may adjourn the sale from day to day until every certificate has been offered. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.
How often does Brule County hold tax deed sales?
Brule County holds its tax deed sale once a year. No fixed calendar. 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. South Dakota's redemption rule: Open until a tax deed issues; a deed cannot be sought until 3 years after the certificate sale, and redemption then runs until 60 days after completed service of the notice of intention. Call the Brule County Board of Commissioners 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.
Verified Aug 31, 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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