Call us skeptical, but when politicians begin meeting behind closed doors, we get a little nervous.

Last week members of the Adams County Board of Supervisors met privately with Sheriff Chuck Mayfield and Circuit Court Judges Lillie Blackmon Sanders and Forrest “Al” Johnson.

The meeting was conducted privately, they said, because matters of security were being discussed in regard to the Adams County Jail.

That may have been partially correct, but it wasn’t the full purpose of the meeting.

We can see the closed-door political work beginning to unfold.

Sheriff Mayfield has been griping about the state of the county jail practically since he first came into the office.

The jail is old, worn out and is unsafe, the sheriff says. The only solution in his mind — at least from his public actions — is to build a new jail.

County supervisors have suggested the county simply cannot afford this.

Enter the judges who hold the power to force things to happen. They could issue an order declaring the existing jail unfit and mandate a new facility be built.

Taxpayers would be powerless — at least until the next election — to do anything about it.

Before the county is forced to take such drastic measures, is it too much to ask that taxpayers be provided a cost breakdown of total renovations needed at the existing jail versus the cost of completely rebuilding a new one?

We think not. All of the players involved are elected by the people of this county and region — in the case of the judges who serve a multi-county jurisdiction — shouldn’t the voters’ interests be considered right alongside the interests of the criminals?