Six terms is enough for Lackawanna County Register of Wills Linda Munley.
Ms. Munley, 64, a Democrat from Jessup who has served as register of wills and clerk of orphans' court since 1990, announced Thursday she will not seek re-election to a seventh term in 2013.
Ms. Munley thanked her staff, including Deputy Frances Kovaleski, but said she was most appreciative of the support she and her office received from the taxpayers and voters.
"It has been a successful 23 years working at a job I love," she said.
Ms. Munley said the office has achieved goals that she could never have imagined in 1990.
When she arrived, the register of wills was still using typewriters and writing receipts by hand. She modernized the operation, although it wasn't always easy.
"The first time I asked for computers from the commissioners, they laughed at us," Ms. Munley recalled.
Today, 99 percent of all documents filed since 1878 with the register of wills, the marriage license bureau and the clerk of orphans' court have been imaged and can be viewed online free by the public, she said.
The office also collects more than $800,000 annually in revenue for the county.
"When I took over, it was actually running in the red," Ms. Munley said. "Now we run it like a business, and it generates funds for the county after expenses. It was fun turning it around."
Register of wills is one of four county row offices that will be on the ballot in 2013, along with district attorney, sheriff and recorder of deeds.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@ timesshamrock.com