A new use may soon be coming for an empty lot near the Warren County Courthouse, just over two years after the county purchased three heavily fire damaged buildings along State Street.

Magistrates on Thursday voted to advertise for site improvements at 1019, 1023 and 1029 State Street. The plan is to fill what was a basement with stone and gravel to install a temporary, public parking lot at the site while plans are drafted over the next year for a permanent development.

“The product we put in there is removable, because if we build there we (will) want to have a basement,” Judge-Executive Doug Gorman told the Daily News.

The county bought the buildings in January 2024 for a combined $837,000. The three properties were bought after a large fire tore through the buildings, which were the home for several local entities including the Kerrick-Bachert Law Firm and the Bowling Green office of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul.

Officials later demolished the buildings out of safety concerns, and the lots have been empty since.

No plans were in store for the site at that time, which measures just shy of one acre. However, several officials then said the site could provide needed space down the road if some county offices needed to expand.

Action is still underway to provide new homes for the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Warren County Emergency Management and the Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force, which means any plans for the State Street site will sit on the backburner for a little while.

Gorman said if the county decides to take on a project at the site it will likely come up in budget talks in July 2027.

“We want to be able to have something that will benefit the general public,” he said, adding that accessing the courthouse now for some services can be challenging. “I think it’ll help us streamline the services we provide, the business we provide for the county, by building a new building.

” … We’ll see what the options are.”

Stone and gravel are expected to be poured within the next month and a half.

Magistrates on Thursday also voiced their support for a bill that has been introduced in the Kentucky General Assembly that would, among several other things, change the way local jails are reimbursed by the state for holding state inmates.

The Warren County Regional Jail holds inmates who have been arrested on state and federal charges. The jail receives reimbursements from state and federal governments for holding these inmates. Under the bill, the reimbursements would be changed to provide more funding from the state.

“We estimate this would be a $2.5 million savings to our budget,” Gorman said.

The bill has been sponsored by State Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, and has been sent to committee.

Fiscal Court will meet again Feb. 26.