McPherson County, SD tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •The Treasurer's office is on the second floor of the McPherson County Courthouse at 706 Main St. in Leola and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mail reaches it at P.O. Box 110, Leola, SD 57456. Tiffany Weiszhaar is the Treasurer.
• •McPherson County publishes its legal notices, including delinquent property tax notices, in the McPherson County Herald and the Northwest Blade, and points readers to a free statewide public notice search at sdpublicnotices.com. The County Auditor at 605-439-3314 can supply copies of published notices.
• •Certificates that draw no bidder at the December sale may be sold afterward at private sale at the Treasurer's office to anyone who pays the taxes, penalty and costs due on the property. Certificates the county bids in for itself can be assigned to a buyer who pays the taxes, penalty, interest and costs plus every unpaid and subsequent tax. Both routes sit behind the same commission waiver that governs the December sale, so ask the Treasurer before counting on either one.
• •Redemption stays open until a tax deed issues. A certificate holder cannot begin a tax deed proceeding until three years after the sale, and must serve a notice of intention to take tax deed on the owner of record, the person in possession and the person in whose name the property is taxed, with other interested parties served personally or by publication once a week for two successive weeks and notified by registered or certified mail. Redemption then ends sixty days after the affidavit of completed service is filed with the Treasurer.
• •Certificates expire. If the tax deed proceeding is not completed within six years of the sale date, the certificate, the tax lien and the lien for subsequent taxes the holder paid are cancelled and forever barred. Certificates the county holds are not subject to that limit, and a buyer taking assignment of a county certificate dated more than four years before the assignment has one year from the assignment to begin the proceeding.
• •The Register of Deeds records the tax deed and can be reached at 605-439-3151 or P.O. Box 129, Leola, SD 57456.

South Dakota rules

Max interest rate

10% per year, bid down at auctionS.D. Codified Laws 10-23-8 - Offer of tax certificate and receipt of bids; lowest interest rate as best bid; maximum interest rateSDCL 10-23-8Verified Aug 27, 2026

Minimum return

No statutory minimum; interest accrues at your bid rateS.D. Codified Laws 10-23-8 - Offer of tax certificate and receipt of bids; lowest interest rate as best bid; maximum interest rateSDCL 10-23-8Verified Aug 27, 2026

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.S.D. Codified Laws 10-24-1 - Right to redeem tax certificate before issuance of tax deed; amount dueSDCL 10-24-1Verified Aug 27, 2026

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.S.D. Codified Laws 10-25-39.1 - County acquisition of real property; sale of property; notice of sale requiredSDCL 10-25-39.1Verified Aug 27, 2026

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.S.D. Codified Laws 10-25-39 - Apportionment of sale proceeds; disposing surplus proceedsSDCL 10-25-39Verified Aug 27, 2026

Governing statute

SDCL Title 10, Chapter 10-23S.D. Codified Laws 10-23-7 - Time and place of annual saleSDCL 10-23-7Verified Aug 27, 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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