Adams County supervisors are now trying to determine if mold present at the county jail is a health hazard.

Finding out if such a hazard exists is critical for the health and well being of both the inmates in the county’s custody as well as the sheriff’s office workers who operate the jail or work in other parts of the building.

Possible health issues aside, the move is the latest cat and mouse game between the sheriff, who wants a new jail complex, the county supervisors, who appear to mostly be against it, and the judges, who appear to have the power to court-order the solution.

At the end of the day, the county needs to publicly consider all options. This matter has lingered on far too long.

The county supervisors appear to be on a good course by seeking a local architect’s help in determining the costs of renovating the facility.

Until they have that, the supervisors cannot make a good decision about the future of the jail.

Regardless of the outcome, clearly the sheriff and the county supervisors need to do a better job of working together to be good stewards of taxpayer property and ultimately taxpayer money.

The mold in question appears to be caused by a combination of what some consider a faulty design, which doesn’t properly vent moisture from the inmate showers, and roof leaks.

Both appear to be relatively easy to fix issues, if truly the case — replace the roof and get an engineer to help design a better way to vent the showers.

The jail was built 40 years ago. Why haven’t any of these problems been addressed before now?