Coming to the courthouse to flip through 35 millimeter microfilm at the prothonotary's office will soon become a thing of the past.

Longtime prothonotary Glenna Walters received approval from the county commissioners on Wednesday to hire Iron Mountain to convert all 35 mm microfilm to 16 mm.

Iron Mountain will then generate an external hardware drive to be downloaded into the prothonotary's computer system so that those looking for documents or images regarding court cases can simply sit down at a computer instead of scrolling through microfilm on a separate machine.

Walters said 168 rolls of microfilm with 84,000 images dating back to the 1800s will be converted.

She said time is of the essence in saving some of the microfilm because of its condition.

“Over the years, when the microfilm was generated, there were no standards,” Walters said.

Walters said those looking for civil court documents will enter the case into the computer, and all documents and images related to that case will appear.

The cost for the changeover is $4,450.

Commissioner Kevin Boozel said the move will make documents more accessible by removing the need to use the microfilm machine.

Commissioners Chairwoman Leslie Osche said personnel from gas and oil companies are the most frequent visitors to the prothonotary to search for documents.

Walters said chain of title, agreements regarding gas wells and rights of way are some of the items frequently searched at her office.

In years past, the prothonotary's office was the only one in the courthouse that had a microfilm machine, which was considered a high-tech piece of equipment at one time.

“So the other offices would send people here to look at microfilm,” Walters recalled.