Revenue-based funds from gaming are the likeliest pot of money to be tapped if county officials secure and match any grant to pay for moving the handicap ramp at Warren County Courthouse.

Monday, the Board of Supervisors set a public hearing for 10 a.m. Feb. 23 to gather comments on the move, spurred by a presentation of findings Jan. 20 by the chief of security at the state Supreme Court, itself a product of a tour of the courthouse grounds in September.

Judges who work in the courtroom, led by Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick, had asked security personnel at the Carroll Gartin Justice building to assess the nearly 75-year-old structure’s security profile. Officials recommended putting at least one metal detector on each of the courthouse’s upper three floors.

When supervisors met informally last week, the focus shifted to improving wheelchair access, which currently leads to the north entrance on the basement floor. Closing access to the basement floor as a security measure would all but assure moving the wheelchair ramp.

Supervisors intend to apply for a Community Development Public Facilities Block grant to finance the project. County administrator John Smith said the nature of the work would prompt the county to try for the full $600,000 grant currently available.

Board President Bill Lauderdale, who had criticized a security upgrade as too costly, asked Smith how best to match the federal grant. He was also the lone nay vote to set the hearing and hiring engineers and an administrator firm for the grant.

“Probably from gaming, once we get a dollar amount,” Smith said in response.

Casinos in Vicksburg pay a 3.2 percent tax on gross revenue to local government and public schools. Warren County receives 25 percent of that total, plus eight-tenths of an 8.8 percent tax levied by the state. The latter is determined by population in the city and county.

Besides wheelchair access, outfitting public elevators inside the courthouse with braille instructions was needed to bring the buildings into full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Smith said. Lauderdale argued against spending grant money on ADA-compliant signage, which can be purchased cheaply online from various online distributors.

“Why spend a couple hundred thousand dollars to put signs up and lock some doors and inconvenience our taxpayers on what they have to do to come in?” Lauderdale said.

State judicial officials pegged a system of metal detector stations inside the courthouse at $41,120 during their presentation. The courthouse is in the city’s historic preservation district, where all renovations are subject to approval by city-appointed Board of Architectural Review.

Supervisors pledged no action until after the hearing and stressed approval of federal grant money is in the hands of federal agencies.

“If we don’t come out as well with this grant fund, we’re not forced to do anything,” District 5 Supervisor Richard George said.

In 2012-13, the county used a federal block grant tied to public facilities to pave sections and fill potholes along China Grove Road. The $598,888 grant from HUD came with a 50 percent match from the county, which came from the gaming fund.