NATCHEZ &045; Sheriff Ronny Brown told county supervisors Tuesday he wants to meet with them as soon as possible to discuss his proposed budget for courthouse security.

The county begins as early as late July formulating a budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said a meeting will be set up as soon as possible, although no specific date was given Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Brown estimated it would cost $250,000 to fully secure the Adams County Courthouse, justice court and the juvenile justice facility.

That would buy X-ray machines and hand-held metal detectors, hire five new deputies for security and close off all courthouse entrances but one. Brown said he’s also waiting for a committee headed by Justice Court Judge Charles Vess to recommend more security measures.

Since the $250,000 figure was submitted, however, Brown has located two Department of Homeland Security grants totaling $32,000 for courthouse security.

As it now stands, those would be used to buy X-ray machines and to install &uot;panic buttons&uot; in court, law enforcement and other government facilities to automatically alert the Sheriff’s Office in case of an emergency.

&uot;And we’re putting in (applications) every day&uot; for additional grants, Brown said.

&uot;We’re trying to cut down that cost any way we can to save the county some money. I understand our economic situation and that the budget’s tight.&uot;

Brown said that while not all his counterparts throughout the state have fully implemented such courthouse security measures, almost all are in the process of doing so.

If necessary, Brown said he will put security measures in place in phases, and he has already said he will rearrange existing staffing to cover security for the justice complex.

The worst case scenario would be for a judge to issue a document ordering supervisors to provide certain security measures &045; something that’s already been done in other counties, Brown said.