Jefferson County, IL tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Jefferson County, IL tax sale, one of 2,553 counties in 30 states. Illinois sells tax lien certificates paying up to 9%. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Jul 30, 2026.
How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Jefferson County, seat of Mount Vernon: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Illinois tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction.
- Format
- In person
- County office
- 618-244-8010
On this page
How Jefferson County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Jefferson County Treasurer, serving as ex officio Jefferson County Collector. The office is listed on the county site as Treasurer/Collector and the current Treasurer is Bob Watt. Checks for the sale are made payable to the Jefferson County Collector.
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The Treasurer/Collector lists the next tax sale under the heading "November ...
- Registration
- Register in writing before the sale.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register in writing before the sale. The county requires the completed Delinquent Tax Sale Buyer Registration Form, the signed single bidder affidavit on page 2, a newly completed W-9, a $250 registration check ($50 for a single parcel buyer), and a separate $100 check for the buyer's list, all payable to the Jefferson County Collector and delivered to the Treasurer's office by the registration deadline printed on that year's notice. Incomplete registrations are returned. Each company is allowed one registration per EIN or SSN, each bidder present may represent only one tax buyer, and all bidders must personally attend the sale under 35 ILCS 200/21-205. The registration check is returned when you attend; failing to attend forfeits it. On sale day buyers drop off a signed blank check for the parcels purchased and submit a USB drive with their bids, and the trustee emails results afterward. Effective January 2026 the county adopted a single bidder rule under 35 ILCS 200/21-205(b-5) and Jefferson County Ordinance 2025-11-01, barring related bidding entities from registering or bidding together.
Sale format and venue
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Sheriff or a court-appointed private selling officer, under an order of the circuit court. A county acting as trustee runs its own tax deed auctions.
- Frequency
- as ordered by the circuit court
- Typical timing
- Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Terms of a judicial tax deed auction, including whether it runs online, in person, or both, and what deposit is required, are set in the court's order and published in the notice of tax deed auction. That notice runs once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, starting no more than 45 days and ending no less than 7 days before the auction. Read the notice for each parcel; there is no statewide platform or standing bidder registration.
Sale format and venue
Jefferson County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Jefferson 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
Use Annual Tax Auctions: notice to tax sale buyers, registration form, fee schedule, and past sale results for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction. 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.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Sheriff or a court-appointed private selling officer, under an order of the circuit court. A county acting as trustee runs its own tax deed auctions. as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Jefferson County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Annual Tax Auctions: notice to tax sale buyers, registration form, fee schedule, and past sale results. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Terms of a judicial tax deed auction, including whether it runs online, in person, or both, and what deposit is required, are set in the court's order and published in the notice of tax deed auction. That notice runs once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, starting no more than 45 days and ending no less than 7 days before the auction. Read the notice for each parcel; there is no statewide platform or standing bidder registration.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Illinois 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 Illinois 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
Certificates nobody bids on at the annual sale are forfeited to the county as trustee for the taxing districts. The county may then assign a forfeited certificate to any party or sell property it has acquired, which many counties handle through a delinquent tax agent rather than a public counter. Counties may also offer county-held certificates at a scavenger sale with a minimum bid of $250, or half the tax when total liability is under $500. Ask the county collector and the county clerk which program the county runs and who may buy.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Illinois calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Jefferson County Treasurer/Collector
Jefferson County Treasurer, 100 South 10th Street, Room 100, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864
Official websiteCounty notes
- Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday except holidays. The Treasurer/Collector fax is 618-244-8110 and the office email listed on the sale notice is treasurer@jeffil.us.
- Redemptions go to the Jefferson County Clerk, not the Treasurer. The county's Delinquent Tax Sale FAQs direct redemption questions to the County Clerk at 618-244-8000 extension 3, and the collection process notice says the Clerk requires certified funds and cannot accept installment plans.
- The county's collection timeline: 1.5 percent per month penalty accrues on delinquent installments, a certified delinquency notice with a $10 fee goes out about two weeks after the deadline, the newspaper list publishes about six weeks after, and the sale follows about eight weeks after. Buyers pay roughly $75 in additional fees per parcel at the sale, a $10 automation fee applies to sub-tax payments, and the take notice from the County Clerk follows within about four and a half months.
- Tax deed timing per the county: the buyer can petition the circuit court for a tax deed at roughly two and a half years after the sale, with about $600 in additional notice and service costs added at about the two year mark.
- The Delinquent Tax Publications page currently shows only category headings for Real Estate 2025 and Mobile Home 2026 and carries no downloadable list, so request the paid buyer's list or watch the newspaper publication.
- ILTaxSale.com, operated by Joseph E. Meyer & Associates, lists a Jefferson County "Real Estate / Mobile Home - Sealed Bid" event dated 10/30/2026 with a minimum bid of $836 at the Jefferson County Courthouse, 100 S. 10th Street, Room 100, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864, and says the catalog is available roughly 30 days before the auction. That is the trustee sealed bid auction, a separate event from the annual tax sale.
Illinois rules
- Redemption
- Property sold at an Illinois tax sale may be redeemed at any time before the redemption period expires. Public Act 104-0553 set the standard period at 3 years from the date of sale for tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026. Certificates issued between January 1, 2024 and July 9, 2026 run on the earlier 2.5 year (30 month) track, and on that track the certificate holder could file a written notice with the county clerk extending redemption to a date no later than 3 years from the sale. A short 1 year period applies when the parcel was, on the date of sale, vacant non-farm property, commercial or industrial property, or improved with a structure holding 7 or more residential units. Certificates the county holds or assigns as trustee run on their own schedule under Section 21-385, and an assignee must file notice within 60 days of assignment setting a redemption deadline no later than 3 years from the assignment.
- Deed deposit
- Illinois does not fix a statutory deposit percentage. Deposit and payment terms are set in the court's order authorizing the auction and by the selling officer, so read the notice of tax deed auction for each sale. A purchaser who fails to complete the sale forfeits any deposit already made to the county surplus equity fund, and the court orders a new auction of the property.
- Surplus proceeds
- Any amount by which the winning bid exceeds the minimum bid is surplus. Within 30 days after the court confirms the sale the selling officer deposits the surplus with the county treasurer, who notifies everyone who received the Section 22-10 take notice that the owner at the time of the sale may file a claim for it. A county running its own tax deed auction deposits surplus with the treasurer within 30 days of the sale and notifies interested parties within 60 days. Separately, a previous owner who lost equity through a tax deed can claim an award from the county surplus equity fund, capped at the value of the property when the deed issued less mortgages, liens, and the taxes the purchaser paid.
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 Jefferson County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Jefferson County tax certificate sale?
How often does Jefferson County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Jefferson County tax sale list?
Verified Jul 30, 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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