MENOMONIE, Wis. (WEAU) – Teenagers who get into trouble in Dunn County could get a second chance, erasing the first stain off their record.

Dunn County is the latest in the state to offer Teen Court.

“In our mock trial back in January, it was a girl who was drunk in public with her friends. She was double the legal limit and her mom had just died the year before and it was around the same time so it was difficult because of the struggle she gone through,” says 16-year-old Jordyn Messing.

She’s a junior at Elk Mound High School and is one of few select
students from Dunn County who are volunteers for Teen Court.

Messing says by March, she’ll come across many types of cases, even ones like the example in the mock trial.

The Teen Court volunteers get to decide the punishment for their peers who find themselves in trouble for small time crime.

“It’s easier because it’s teens to teens. Teens know what they're thinking. Teens pretty much kind of have a better understanding than maybe what adults would have,” says Messing.

The effectiveness of Teen Court and the reduction in recidivism are just a couple reasons why Positive Alternatives in Menomonie got a grant to support the program.

“In a program that we run through Buffalo/Pepin County we found that 80 percent of teens who have gone through the program have not committed a subsequent juvenile offense,” says restorative justice coordinator at Positive Alternatives Maleigha Myers.

Teen Court is a lot like “real court,” says Myers.

“We use one of our court rooms at Dunn County Judicial Center, Diane Cole is an attorney here in Menomonie and she acts as our judge,” she says.

Messing says the task of advising and acting as a court system for her peers is a big responsibility.

“You can't sentence them to life in prison, there's sanctions like community service, you have to write essays,” says Messing.

Depending on the case, the juvenile may also be asked to write an apology letter to the victim.

“They’re still making up for it, just in different ways. It just won't go on their record,” says Messing.

That’s because one mistake doesn’t mean a teen will go down the wrong path for good says Myers.

To find out more information on Teen Courts, head to the Positive Alternatives website.