Adams County officials say they are continuing work to comply with an order by the 6th Circuit District Court to determine if the county jail needs to be replaced.

The order, issued in June by Judges Forrest “Al” Johnson and Lillie Sanders, commanded the county board of supervisors and the sheriff’s office to form a strategic partnership to determine the feasibility of correcting any deficiencies in the current jail or building a new jail facility.

While the process is moving slowly, the county and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office are in compliance with the order, Board of Supervisors Attorney Scott Slover said.

“The court was not expecting a quick, overnight answer on this,” he said. “They wanted us to start thinking about what we will do and where we will do it.”

The county board has received a feasibility study from Benchmark Construction Company detailing the construction costs for a new $6.8 million, 30,000-square foot facility that could house 185 inmates.

Architect Johnny Waycaster has also presented the board with a $2.5 million plan to repair the significant issues at the facility.

In the interim, the board has had the air quality in the jail tested, a concern Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield has raised a number of times — most recently when a member of his staff reportedly contracted Legionnaire’s Disease.

The tests for Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaire’s Disease, came back negative, but Supervisors’ Vice President Mike Lazarus said the board of supervisors is waiting for recommendations from the testing company to see if other environmental concerns need to be addressed.

“The worst thing to do is to go out and do something that doesn’t do any good,” Lazarus said. “I want to hear what the guy who knows what he is doing has to tell us.”

The board expects to receive the report from the air quality test this month.

Even as they wait to make some decisions, the board is moving to address some factors known to cause environmental concerns in the jail facility, including repairing a leaking roof and seeking to have damaged masonry fixed, Lazarus said.

“We are taking steps to do what we need to make sure moisture doesn’t create dangerous levels of mold,” Slover said. “Either way (we ultimately go), we still have to have the jail stabilized because (possible new construction) will take a couple of years anyway. Once we get the moisture at a safe level, that will have some bearing on if we will build a new jail.”

Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield said he is working with the supervisors but any decision related to the jail is ultimately out of his hands.

“I don’t hold the purse strings,” he said. “I can only make problems known to them and put the ball in their court and let them handle it from there.”

The court has not had any contact with the parties involved since the order was issued and likely will not unless the board or the sheriff’s office files a contempt action on the other party, which is unlikely to happen, Slover said.

“This is something that has to be solved between the parties,” he said. “I think we have done what we need to do, and are focused on what we need to do to make the current jail last until a new one can be built or the current one can be upgraded.”