Fort Scott - Bourbon County will hold its 2026 tax sale at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, at Memorial Hall, 1 E. Third St., in Fort Scott. Treasurer Jennifer Hawkins announced the date at Monday’s County Commission meeting.
The county’s sale list includes 104 parcels with delinquent property taxes. Forty-seven are in Fort Scott and 43 are in Mapleton, most of them lots in the Hidden Valley plats.
The remaining parcels are in Garland, Redfield, Bronson, Fulton and Uniontown. The full list, with each parcel’s tax ID, legal description and address, is linked below.
The properties on the list carry unpaid taxes from 2020 and earlier, Hawkins said in an interview Wednesday. The county’s last tax sale was in 2024.
Hawkins said the county began working toward this sale in July 2025 with a Wichita law firm that runs tax sales for counties across the state.
Hawkins said the first legal publication for the sale has run. She said she waited to announce the sale until the date was final because it had been rescheduled several times.
“It’s been a very long process to get to this tax sale,” Hawkins said.
The sale is usually held in the courthouse lobby, where turnout has been modest. Hawkins said the attorney handling the sale expects a much larger crowd this time, which is why it will move across the street to Memorial Hall.
“We usually have less than 30 bidders,” Hawkins said. “She believes we’re going to have 100 bidders.”
The county first looked at the 4-H building, Hawkins said, but it was not available.
Bidder registration opens Nov. 2 at the Bourbon County Treasurer’s Office, according to the county’s sale terms. Bidders must register by 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30, and only registered bidders may bid.
Bidders must bring a photo ID to register and fill out a registration form, Hawkins said. Under the sale terms, anyone with outstanding delinquent taxes in Bourbon County cannot register.
“We’ll have to verify that they don’t owe any delinquent taxes in Bourbon County, and then we’ll give them a bidder number,” Hawkins said.
Payment at the auction must be made in cash or by check. Winning bidders must pay for all purchased property before leaving the sale.
Each successful bidder will also pay a $21 deed recording fee and a $100 court cost fee per parcel.
Property owners can keep a parcel out of the sale by paying the delinquent taxes, and Hawkins said they have until the day of the sale to do so. That means the list attached here is a snapshot, and the number of parcels actually auctioned Dec. 1 will likely be smaller.
Parcels that do sell are conveyed to the buyer by sheriff’s deed, and the former owner loses any claim to the property.
Hawkins said the property list will be posted on the county website and available at the treasurer’s office. The posted list also carries the sale date, time and location.
Tax foreclosure sales of property with delinquent real estate taxes are governed by K.S.A. 79-2801 and following sections of Kansas law.
