Everyone knows which friends are likely to pay back a loaned $20 and which ones aren’t.

And loaning money to a friend who has a reputation of unfulfilled IOUs is risky business.

Why shouldn’t such knowledge be pursued when it comes to handing over taxpayer dollars to paid government employees?

The Adams County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to require credit checks before any county department head is hired.

It’s a logical move that probably should have been done long ago.

Now, individuals with bad personal credit won’t be given the chance to waste everyone else’s hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

Department heads oversee large budgets, and as we saw with a close look at cell phone minutes earlier this year, spending is not always closely reviewed.

In fact, maybe before the next election roles around, the candidates running for city and county offices will volunteer for a credit check, publishing the results to the public.

After all, it’s our elected officials who have final say over where our tax dollars go. A basic qualification of the job should be good personal money management.