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Tax Sale Atlas

Corson County, SD tax sales

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Corson County, seat of McIntosh: 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 annual date.
Registration
Bidders attend in person.
County office
(605) 273-4552
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 31, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Corson County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

Run by
Corson County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Registration
Bidding is in person at the courthouse, so there is no online bidder account to open.
Next expected
on the third Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
When it runs
The annual tax certificate sale is held on the third Monday of December, between nine a.m. and four p.m., at the Corson County Courthouse in McIntosh. The treasurer may adjourn the sale from day to day until every certificate has been offered.
Registration and deposit

Bidding is in person at the courthouse, so there is no online bidder account to open. The treasurer offers a certificate for each parcel in tax list order and takes bids from the floor. The winning bidder pays the full delinquent tax, interest and costs, and a bidder who fails to pay loses the parcel to a fresh offering. Call the Treasurer at (605) 273-4552 ahead of the sale to confirm the start time and the payment methods the office accepts.

Sale format and venue
Corson County sells tax certificates over the counter at the courthouse rather than through an online auction site, and no third party runs the sale. Bidders bid the interest rate down: the treasurer sells to whoever pays the full delinquent tax, interest and costs while naming the lowest annual interest rate, and no bid above ten percent a year is valid. Because the price is fixed at the amount owed, there is no premium to bid. Notice of the sale and the list of unpaid taxes run once during the week before the sale in the county's official newspaper, the Corson/Sioux County News-Messenger. Certificates that draw no bidder are struck to the county, and once the sale closes the treasurer may sell an unsold certificate at private sale at the office to anyone who pays the taxes, penalty and costs due, which is the only over the counter route here.
Source: SDCL 10-23-7, Time and Place of Annual Sale, South Dakota Legislature· Verified Aug 31, 2026

Tax deed sale

Run by
Corson County Board of Commissioners
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
No fixed annual date.
Registration
Bidders attend in person.
When it runs
No fixed annual date. The commission declares tax deed property surplus and sets the auction date by motion at a regular meeting, and the sale must occur within one year of the deed being issued. Notice of the sale is published at least twice, with the first publication at least thirty days before the auction.
Registration and deposit

Bidders attend in person. The commission names the parcels, the date and the time in its meeting minutes and in the published notice. Call the Treasurer at (605) 273-4552 to confirm the terms and the auction location.

Sale format and venue
Property the county takes by tax deed does not go back through the December certificate sale. The treasurer completes the deed, the commission declares the property surplus, and the county sells it at public auction under the surplus property rules. Recent offerings have been city lots in McLaughlin and McIntosh set for late morning Mountain Time on a commission meeting day. No online bidding platform is used.
Source: Commission Minutes, November 4, 2025, Corson County· Verified Aug 31, 2026

Corson County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Corson 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.

  1. 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.

  2. Register to bid

    Bidders attend in person. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    No fixed annual date. The auction platform is still being verified. Confirm the next sale date and registration window with the county before you bid.

  4. Confirm with the office

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

Before you bid in Corson County

  1. 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.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Bidders attend in person. The commission names the parcels, the date and the time in its meeting minutes and in the published notice. Call the Treasurer at (605) 273-4552 to confirm the terms and the auction location.

  3. 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.

  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

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)

Corson County Treasurer

(605) 273-4552

PO Box 285, 212 1st Ave E, McIntosh, SD 57641

Official website

County notes

  • Corson County publishes no sale calendar and no delinquent list on its website. Watch the Corson/Sioux County News-Messenger, the county's official and legal newspaper, in the week before the third Monday in December, and call the Treasurer at (605) 273-4552 for the parcel list.
  • The Treasurer posts office hours in both Mountain and Central time because the county straddles the time zone line. Confirm which clock a stated sale time or deadline uses before you drive to McIntosh.
  • Real estate taxes fall due in halves on April 30 and October 31, and South Dakota bills real property a year behind its assessment. Ask the Treasurer which tax year a given certificate covers before you bid.
  • Taking the deed is not a way to keep the land in South Dakota. A certificate holder who completes the tax deed proceeding must offer the property at public auction within one year of the deed and takes back only the certificate amount with interest, the same figure a redemption would have paid. Plan a Corson County certificate as an interest play rather than a route to acreage.
  • County records describe tracts inside Corson County as reservation trust land. Confirm a parcel's ownership status, taxability and legal access with the Register of Deeds and the Director of Equalization before you bid.

South Dakota rules

Max interest rate
10% per year, bid down at auction
Minimum return
No statutory minimum; interest accrues at your bid rate
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.
Governing statute
SDCL Title 10, Chapter 10-23

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 South Dakotarules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Corson County, South Dakota sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Corson County follows South Dakota's tax lien state system.

When is the Corson County tax certificate sale?

The annual tax certificate sale is held on the third Monday of December, between nine a.m. and four p.m., at the Corson County Courthouse in McIntosh. 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 Corson County hold tax deed sales?

Corson 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. 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 Corson 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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

South Dakota tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Corson County Treasurer