Some of the old faces of Douglas County government are about to give way to the digital age.

Eight portraits of turn-of-the-century district judges soon will be peeled off the walls of the old courtroom at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Mass., to be replaced by projections of maps, petitions and other documents using a high-tech system designed to improve communications with the audience during commission meetings.

County officials are checking into costs and logistics of such a move — the projection system likely would cost from $1,500 to $5,000 — but the handwriting certainly is on the wall; the portraits of obscure, bearded men must go.

“We’re a diverse community now,” said Commission Chairman Charles Jones, who described the portrait subjects as a bunch of “old white guys” after a recent commission meeting. “I don’t think it (the portrait collection) really reflects the diversity of the community, and so I think it would be fine to redistribute those photographs.

“They’re nice, they’re historic and we need to keep them … but I don’t think anything would be lost by putting them elsewhere in the courthouse.”

The key, Jones said, was to bring county government closer to its constituents.

The projection system would be similar to one used during meetings of the Lawrence City Commission at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets, and gatherings of the Lawrence school board at the district service center, 110 McDonald Drive. Each time a staff member offers a map for review, a petition for examination or a proposed rule or regulation for consideration, the actual document can be projected onto a screen for all to see.

‘It’s not fair’

At the courthouse, commissioners typically spread paperwork across their collective desk and ask people to join them up on the dais.

Portraits of former judges from Douglas County will be removed from a wall in the commission chambers at the courthouse.

“It’s not fair when you’re talking about something and the people in the audience can’t see what we’re talking about,” Jones said. “Sometimes we signal for people to come forward, but when you’ve got a whole courtroom of people who show up on important issues, they can’t (all) see what we’re talking about. And I think that really undermines our spirit, the spirit of public service.”

The new system is expected to be in place within a month.

Pam Madl, the county’s director of administrative services, said the system would go a long way toward helping county residents understand their government without threatening the character or history of their cornerstone building.

The portraits have been in place for less than a decade, after being requested by another commissioner: Jim Chappell, who wanted to return the commission chambers to its appearance of decades earlier, when it served as the county’s courtroom.

Today, Douglas County’s district courts are across the courtyard, in the Judicial & Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St. And that’s where portraits of district judges, past and present, are hung on walls.

The reproductions in commission chambers won’t be thrown away, Madl said, but instead likely would be moved to another area of the old limestone courthouse.