For three days this week, state law has provided visual and auditory evidence of three Adams County supervisors’ negligence.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten and Adams County Chancery Clerk Brandi Lewis have walked into the supervisors’ meeting room and announced “no quorum.”

State law requires the rather obscure practice when supervisors cannot convene the board’s required, monthly meeting.

The lack of quorum — with a five-member board, three must be present to officially meet — exists because three supervisors chose to attend the National Association of Counties’ 2018 Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.

We believe the three supervisors when they say they are working to obtain knowledge that may be helpful to the county. But all three supervisors did not need to attend to gain that knowledge particularly since doing so effectively stalls the wheels of government for the better part of a week.

We strongly urge supervisors — when they return to Natchez and resume their work responsibilities — to implement a travel policy requiring unanimous board approval for any instance in which more than two supervisors seek to attend the same out-of-town function.

In most cases, a single supervisor or in a stretch two could attend such meetings and share information later with other supervisors. We can imagine such group travel may be necessary under certain circumstances, but attending an annual conference does not merit the additional taxpayer expense.

Further, it fosters not only the uttering of “no quorum” but also the belief of “no confidence” in the minds of taxpayers that supervisors consistently put the best interests of the county ahead of their own.