Photo by Miranda Sebroski Belmont County Juvenile and Probate Judge Al Davies, right, conducts a mock trial of a juvenile case Thursday at Union Local Middle School.

Students at Union Local Middle School got a glimpse of the court system Thursday as mock trials unfolded before their eyes.

Belmont County Juvenile and Probate Judge Al Davies conducted the mock trials to show students how juvenile court cases work. Cases included those of a teen who had slashed car tires around his neighborhood and another involving a girl who was in trouble for disorderly conduct using alcohol and marijuana. The trials took place in the school’s auditorium at 1 p.m. that day with students in grades six through eight attending. Teachers and staff members played roles such as parents or family members in the mock trials.

Mike Menges, security coordinator at Union Local, participated in one of the mock trials. While it can be entertaining for the students to see the cases take place, Menges said that there is an important lesson they can learn about making good decisions. He said he has worked with troubled juveniles in the past and wants to see the students stay out of trouble and lead successful lives.

“This is a chance for our youth to see what happens when they make bad decisions. We have to show them that if you do certain things there are consequences, and one of those is that you are going to end up in court. Court would be the start of it, and then from there you can get locked up. … (T)hey are getting a look at how it feels to be inside of a courtroom. Hopefully, we deter them from making poor choices and when the time comes, they will make good choices. It is important for these kids to know what can happen.”

The presentation was set up by the Belmont County Juvenile Court division.

“I think it is really great that they are doing this,” Menges said. “I think they come every other year to the schools, so when they contacted us we had to say we were absolutely interested in participating. It’s good to have this interaction with the students and the juvenile court.”

The Belmont County juvenile court has jurisdiction over delinquency cases, custody, parentage, child support, dependency, neglect and abuse, truancy, failure to send, contributing, and juvenile traffic cases.

According to its website, Belmont County Juvenile Court travels throughout the county presenting mock proceedings in cooperation with all public and private schools. The mock hearings are often a dramatization of actual court cases previously heard by the court.