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Tax Sale Atlas

Miner County, SD tax sales

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Miner County, seat of Howard: 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.
Format
In person
Registration
Set county by county.
County office
(605) 772-4652
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 31, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Miner County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Miner County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Third Monday of December each year.
Registration
No online registration and no statutory pre-registration deadline.
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. SDCL 10-23-7 directs that "On the third Monday of December in each year, between the hours of nine a.m. and four p.m. the treasurer shall offer at public sale at the courthouse a tax certificate for any real property that is liable for taxes of any description for the preceding year or years, and that remains due and unpaid," and lets the treasurer adjourn the sale from day to day until every certificate has been offered.
Registration and deposit

No online registration and no statutory pre-registration deadline. Bidding is done in person at the Miner County Courthouse, 401 N. Main St. in Howard, during the 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. sale window. Call the Treasurer at (605) 772-4652 before sale day to confirm what the office asks of a bidder and how payment must be made. A bidder who wins and then fails to pay lets the treasurer re-offer the certificate and recover the amount by civil action under SDCL 10-23-9.

Sale format and venue
Miner County holds a live, in person certificate sale at the Miner County Courthouse in Howard. There is no online auction platform and no internet bidding. Bidding is a bid down of the interest rate: under SDCL 10-23-8 a bidder offers the full amount of taxes, interest and costs due and states the lowest annual interest rate at which the bidder will carry the taxes, and the lowest rate stated is the best bid. The price is fixed at the delinquent amount, so there is nothing to bid up and no premium is possible. The statute makes any bid above ten percent per year invalid and names no minimum rate, so competition can carry the rate all the way down to zero. On redemption the county commission may by resolution deduct a fee of up to fifty dollars from the money paid to the certificate holder, and that fee cannot be charged to the property owner. One rule matters more than any of the above for an outside investor. SDCL 10-23-28.1 provides that no South Dakota county may sell a tax certificate unless its board of county commissioners has adopted a resolution waiving that prohibition, and that the county is the holder of every certificate it issues unless such a resolution passes. In Miner County the county has been the holder on delinquent parcels, and the commission has weighed assigning a certificate to a city rather than putting it up for sale, so confirm with the Treasurer that certificates are actually available to private buyers before travelling to Howard in December. The treasurer publishes the sale notice once during the week before the sale in the official county newspaper and mails notice to the owner of record at least fourteen days ahead. If a certificate goes unsold for want of bidders, SDCL 10-23-12 requires the treasurer to sell it at private sale at the treasurer's office to any person who pays the taxes, penalty and costs due, and SDCL 10-23-28 lets a buyer take an assignment of a county held certificate by paying the taxes, penalty, interest, costs of sale and transfer, and every unpaid or subsequent tax.
Source: SDCL 10-23-7, Time and place of annual sale, South Dakota Codified Laws· Verified Aug 31, 2026

Tax deed sale

Run by
Miner County Board of Commissioners, with the deed issued by the Miner County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
No fixed annual date.
Registration
Set county by county.
When it runs
No fixed annual date. A county sale happens only after Miner County takes a tax deed on a parcel, and SDCL 10-25-39.1 then requires the county to declare the property surplus and sell it within one year of the deed, with notice of the sale published at least twice and the first publication at least thirty days before the sale date.
Registration and deposit

Set county by county. SDCL chapter 6-13 lets the county take sealed bids opened at a commission meeting, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, or list the property with one or more licensed real estate brokers, and it prescribes no bidder registration. Sealed bids are filed with the county's fiscal officer and opened at the time named in the published notice. The board may reject every bid, but if it accepts one it must be the highest. A county may refuse a bid from any person who is not current on all property taxes due within that county. No deposit is required on a cash sale; a buyer taking an installment contract deposits the cash portion as soon as the bid is accepted, and gets it back if the board declines to approve the sale. Confirm the bid form, the deadline and the payment terms with the county auditor.

Sale format and venue
This is a surplus property sale of land the county already owns, not a competing lien auction. Miner County is working through this path on the former Carthage school property, where the commission has weighed taking the tax deed against assigning the certificate to the City of Carthage. Watch the official county newspaper for the published notice and call the Treasurer or the Auditor to ask what is coming up, since the county posts no standing calendar of surplus land sales. Investors should also note SDCL 10-25-39.2, in force since February 2024: any person other than a county who takes a tax deed must offer the property at public auction within one year and is compensated only in the same manner as redemption of the certificate, so a South Dakota certificate is a route to interest rather than a route to keeping the land.
Source: Miner County Board of Commissioners, minutes June 4, 2026· Verified Aug 31, 2026

Miner County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Miner 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

    Set county by county. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    No fixed annual date. 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 Miner County Board of Commissioners, with the deed issued by the Miner County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Miner 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

    Set county by county. SDCL chapter 6-13 lets the county take sealed bids opened at a commission meeting, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, or list the property with one or more licensed real estate brokers, and it prescribes no bidder registration. Sealed bids are filed with the county's fiscal officer and opened at the time named in the published notice. The board may reject every bid, but if it accepts one it must be the highest. A county may refuse a bid from any person who is not current on all property taxes due within that county. No deposit is required on a cash sale; a buyer taking an installment contract deposits the cash portion as soon as the bid is accepted, and gets it back if the board declines to approve the sale. Confirm the bid form, the deadline and the payment terms with the county auditor.

  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)

Miner County Treasurer

(605) 772-4652

Miner County Courthouse, 401 N. Main St., 1st Floor, Howard, SD 57349. Mailing address: Miner Co Treasurer, PO Box 426, Howard, SD 57349

Official website

County notes

  • The Treasurer is Brittany Yanish and the Deputy Treasurer is Shellie Bluhm. The office is on the first floor of the Miner County Courthouse and is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Mail reaches the office at Miner Co Treasurer, PO Box 426, Howard, SD 57349. The counter is in the courthouse at 401 N. Main St., at Park Ave. and Main St. The office fax is (605) 772-4203.
  • The sale notice and the delinquent list run in The Miner County Pioneer, which the county commission designated as the official county newspaper for 2026. The county publishes no delinquent tax list, sale calendar or property tax search online, so follow the paper or call the Treasurer for the current year's list.
  • Anyone may redeem until a tax deed issues, paying the amount on the certificate plus interest at the rate that was bid from the date of purchase, plus any subsequent taxes the holder paid and interest on those at the same rate.
  • A certificate holder cannot begin deed proceedings until three years after the sale, and all rights are barred six years after the sale under SDCL 10-25-16. The notice of intention to take a tax deed must be personally served on the owner of record, the person in possession and the person the property is taxed to, other interested parties may be served by publication for two successive weeks, and the right of redemption runs for a further sixty days after the affidavit of completed service is filed with the Treasurer. Costs of that notice, including records search and attorney fee, are capped at four hundred dollars and are added to the redemption amount.
  • The county Register of Deeds records the tax deed. The Treasurer prepares and signs the deed, attested by the County Auditor, for a five dollar fee.

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 Miner County, South Dakota sell tax liens or tax deeds?

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

When is the Miner County tax certificate sale?

Third Monday of December each year. SDCL 10-23-7 directs that "On the third Monday of December in each year, between the hours of nine a.m. and four p.m. the treasurer shall offer at public sale at the courthouse a tax certificate for any real property that is liable for taxes of any description for the preceding year or years, and that remains due and unpaid," and lets the treasurer adjourn the sale from day to day until every certificate has been offered. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does Miner County hold tax deed sales?

Miner 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 Miner County Board of Commissioners, with the deed issued by the Miner County Treasurer 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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