Teen Court makes its Burke County debut

After three years of operation in Catawba County, the Conflict Resolution Center is bringing Teen Court to Burke County.

Teen Court is a program geared toward teenagers who committed minor offenses that could result in a charge. The program got underway on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

“Say, for instance, a teen got caught with a vape in school. The SRO (school resource officer) will send the referral over to us,” said Teen Court Coordinator Wesley Hendrix. “So, in lieu of them being charged with the possession of a vape, especially those vapes that have THC in them, they come to our program.”

Instead of sitting through a real trial, a teenager referred to Teen Court will go through a mock trial in a real courtroom.

Fellow students fill the roles of attorneys, bailiffs, and jury members in a trial presided over by an adult representing a judge. One consequence the defendants face is spending time as a jury member in another teenager’s trial.

“The whole goal of the program is to allow these teenagers to become more upstanding citizens within the community (and) understand the harm that they did,” Hendrix said. “Instead of being punitive, we want to be restorative and teach them, ‘This was not the right way, but we want to show you the way,’ in hopes of them learning that there is a better way to do things, and to get them on the right track.”

All students who go through Teen Court as defendants are referred by SROs or the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Conflict Resolution Center (CRC) Executive Director Cathy Starnes said there have been Teen Court programs in North Carolina since 1993.

Dhyan Patel, a senior at Challenger High School in Catawba County, has worked with CRC for several years at the Catawba County Teen Courts.

Patel remembered a peer coming in “with a little bit of an attitude.” After talking to the teenager, Patel realized the boy had a story to tell.

“His charge was communicating threats,” Patel said. “He ended up coming through my high school, and I’ve seen him grow over the past three years and truly take the advice that Judge Wohlenhaus gave him to heart, of being a leader, being kind, being curious, learning new things, and just getting better every day.”

District 36 Assistant District Attorney Kaylee Wohlenhaus has served as a judge in Teen Court for several years and will play that role in Burke County as well.

CRC in Hildebran is a nonprofit that serves Catawba, Caldwell, and Burke counties. The organization’s website said its mission is promoting respectful communication and offering conflict resolution to the community.