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Tax Sale Atlas

Pennington County, SD tax sales

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Pennington County, seat of Rapid City: 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
County office
605-394-2163
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 31, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Pennington County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Pennington County Treasurer's Office
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Third Monday of December.
Registration
The county publishes no online registration or bidding portal for the certificate sale.
Next expected
on the third Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
When it runs
Third Monday of December. The county states that "the tax sale is held the third Monday of December" and that the Treasurer may hold the annual tax sale, or assign tax certificates, only if the Board of Commissioners authorizes it.
Registration and deposit

The county publishes no online registration or bidding portal for the certificate sale. Call the Treasurer's Office at 605-394-2163 before the third Monday of December to confirm a sale is authorized for that year, to get the sale location and start time, and to ask what identification and funds the office expects. Bidding is a bid-down of the interest rate: a bidder offers the full delinquent tax, interest and costs and names the lowest annual rate of interest they will accept, and the lowest rate wins. No bid above ten percent per year is valid. Delinquent taxes covered by a tax certificate must be paid with certified funds.

Sale format and venue
The December sale is not automatic in Pennington County. Under state law a county may sell tax certificates only after the county commission adopts a resolution waiving the prohibition, and the county reports there was no annual tax sale in 2023, so confirm with the Treasurer each fall before planning to bid. Certificates the county keeps stay in county hands until the county assigns them. State law sets the sale as a public sale at the courthouse between nine a.m. and four p.m., which the Treasurer may adjourn day to day until every certificate has been offered, and the Treasurer's Office now sits at 900 Concourse Drive rather than the old downtown building, so confirm the room before you drive out. Parcels are advertised in the county's official newspapers once during the week before the sale. A holder may begin tax deed proceedings three years after the certificate sale date and must complete them within six years of that date; a proceeding not completed in six years cancels the certificate and bars the lien for taxes and for any subsequent taxes paid. Before a deed issues, the holder serves a notice of intention to take a tax deed on the owner of record, the occupant, the person taxed and recorded mortgagees and lienholders, and the right to redeem ends sixty days after service is complete.
Source: Property Taxes and Tax Certificate Sales, Pennington County Treasurer· Verified Aug 31, 2026

Tax deed sale

Run by
Pennington County Auditor
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
No fixed annual date.
Sale list
Tax Deed Properties
When it runs
No fixed annual date. The Auditor announces a tax deed auction when the county has property to offer and lists the parcels on the county Tax Deeds page.
Registration and deposit

Contact the Auditor's Office at 605-394-2153 for the auction format, bidder requirements and payment terms. Each listed parcel links to its own document set on the county Tax Deeds page.

Sale format and venue
The county sells only property it has already taken by tax deed, so this is not a bidding route into fresh delinquencies. Delinquent taxes, penalties and interest are abated and do not follow the buyer. Municipal special assessments, delinquent, current and future, stay with the property and become the new owner's responsibility, and the property remains subject to any claim the state may have and to existing federal liens. The county conveys by quit claim deed in the name the purchaser requests and makes no guarantee of absolute fee simple marketable title, and it recommends a quiet title action to obtain marketable title, so budget for that step.
Source: Tax Deeds, Pennington County Auditor· Verified Aug 31, 2026

Pennington County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Pennington 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

    Use Tax Deed Properties for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  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 Pennington County Auditor as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Pennington County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Tax Deed Properties. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Contact the Auditor's Office at 605-394-2153 for the auction format, bidder requirements and payment terms. Each listed parcel links to its own document set on the county Tax Deeds page.

  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)

Pennington County Treasurer's Office

605-394-2163

900 Concourse Drive, Suite 150, Rapid City, SD 57703. Mailing address: PO Box 6160, Rapid City, SD 57709

Official website

County notes

  • The Treasurer sells tax certificates only when the Board of Commissioners authorizes a sale, so a December sale is not guaranteed every year. The county reports there was no annual tax sale in 2023.
  • Bidding runs the interest rate down. A bidder pays the full delinquent tax, interest and costs and names the lowest annual interest rate they will take, and the lowest rate wins. No bid above ten percent per year is valid.
  • Once a tax certificate has been issued on a parcel, the delinquent amount must be paid with certified funds.
  • The certificate holder may start tax deed proceedings three years after the sale date and has until six years from that date to finish. A proceeding not completed within six years cancels the certificate and bars the lien.
  • Before a deed can issue, the holder serves a notice of intention to take a tax deed on the owner of record, the occupant, the person in whose name the property is taxed, and recorded mortgagees and lienholders. Redemption ends sixty days after service is complete.
  • There is no online bidding portal for the certificate sale, so plan to attend in person or send an agent. The Treasurer's Office is at 900 Concourse Drive, Suite 150, in Rapid City.
  • Tax deed properties the county already owns are a separate track handled by the Auditor at 605-394-2153, listed on the county Tax Deeds page.

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

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

When is the Pennington County tax certificate sale?

Third Monday of December. The county states that "the tax sale is held the third Monday of December" and that the Treasurer may hold the annual tax sale, or assign tax certificates, only if the Board of Commissioners authorizes it. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does Pennington County hold tax deed sales?

Pennington 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 Pennington County Auditor 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 Pennington County tax sale list?

Pennington County posts its tax sale list at pennco.org. 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 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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Call Pennington County Treasurer's Office