The Watkins Community Museum of History’s next exhibit could come from the halls of county government.

The museum is being asked to develop a proposal for a new permanent exhibit featuring the faces, facts and features of county government.

The request comes from Douglas County commissioners, who want to clear a wall in their meeting room at the county courthouse to open up space for a new $2,500 projection system.

The eight portraits now adorning the room’s north wall are set to be removed, as requested by commissioners last month. But the faces of turn-of-the-century district judges won’t be going anywhere until museum professionals can help commissioners decide where they should go, who else should be featured and where the display eventually will be set up.

“Moving these pictures … raises a lot of issues about who we are, and our history,” said Charles Jones, commission chairman and lead proponent for replacing the portraits with a projection system. “These people have made great contributions, but so have others. And there have been sheriffs and registers of deeds and treasurers, and I think all of those people deserve some recognition and to have their place in history.”

The portraits — ranging from Solon Thacher, a district judge from 1861 to 1864, to Hugh Means, a probate judge from 1907 to 1913 and a district judge from 1921 to 1953 — must go to clear up some wall space that is needed for the projection system.

The system will be used to project maps, petitions and other documents onto the wall, so that people attending commission meetings will be able to follow along with the papers as commissioners deliberate and decide the public’s business.

Similar systems already are in place at City Hall and the Lawrence school district’s service center, but county government’s system won’t be installed until a new home can be found for the portraits, County Administrator Craig Weinaug said.

Rebecca Phipps, museum administrator, said she was willing to develop a proposal for the renovation. Phipps is scheduled to discuss budget issues concerning the project Monday morning with commissioners.

Jones said that the portraits could become part of a display offering a “comprehensive look at who we are, and where we’ve come from and where we’re going.” The display likely would be installed somewhere at the courthouse, 1100 Mass., although it also could be shown temporarily at the museum, 1047 Mass.

Either way, he said, it’s time to pay tribute to the decision makers who have helped shape Lawrence as a community.

“We’ll move ahead in a way that’s not only respectful to these fellows,” Jones said, referring to the judges in the eight portraits, ” but to all the fellows and the women who aren’t on walls right now who have had an important contribution to make to Douglas County.”