May 23, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman MAT-SU - Erin Kelahan has been in court a lot more than most 18-year-olds, but she has no criminal record.

Kelahan has worked as a prosecuting attorney, a defense attorney and a judge for the Mat-Su Youth Court for the past five years. Before that, she worked through the same positions in Fairbanks Youth Court for two years.

Kelahan said she prefers sitting as a defense attorney more than a prosecuting attorney.

“You get to show the judge the person behind the offense,” she said. “I know that most of them are good people who made a wrong choice.”

The Colony High School senior first became interested in law through reading true-crime novels and watching court shows on television. When she was 11, she started training to participate in youth court in Fairbanks.

“A lot of work goes into training,” Kelahan said. “After 24 hours of classes, you have to sit a bar exam, and you have to pass with 80 percent.”

The Mat-Su Youth Court is borough-wide, but the city of Wasilla has taken the program under its wing, providing space in City Hall at no charge, said Lisa Albert-Konecky, program coordinator.

“It is for teens in trouble with first-time misdemeanors,” Albert-Konecky said. “They go in front of their peers, students like Erin, who act as attorneys, judges and even clerks and bailiffs.”

More than 70 area middle-school, high-school and home-school students volunteer their time to hold court for about 100 first-time offenders annually, Albert-Konecky said.

“The student volunteers develop public-speaking skills, have to stand in front of peers arguing mitigators and aggravators,” she said. “We have adult legal advisors during and after the hearings. There's lots of teaching moments.”

Students can receive school credit for volunteering with the youth court. Kelahan didn't, although she gave about 130 hours this year, and 136 hours the year before.

“I do it because I enjoy it,” Kelahan said. “You learn about being able to work with all kinds of people, parents, adult coordinators and peers.”

Kelahan finds the time to volunteer in spite of her other extracurricular activities, including swim team, battle of the books, the high-school mock-trial team and theater. Her theater experience, something she started when she was about 4 years old, helped her in youth court, she said.

“Drama helps you to think on your feet,” Kelahan said. “It's improv, and at times you have to act. If you are the prosecutor and you see the other side more, you have to act your part for the judge.” Acting as the judge for youth court is the position Kelahan most prefers.

“You get to help them figure out better choices,” she said. “I kind of have a speech prepared, but then I try to make it more personal, so they know I pay attention and care.”

Kelahan's prepared speech always includes the warning that if defendants commit any new offense before they turn 18, they automatically will go through the regular juvenile justice system.

“In the Mat-Su Youth Court in general, only about 7 or 8 percent return to the court system,” Kelahan said. “That makes me feel real good.”

Kelahan plans to attend the University of Alaska Anchorage in the fall, living in the dorms while she adjusts to life in a bigger city. She will major in journalism, minor in theater and return to visit in the Valley as often as she can. She isn't ready to stop donating time to the youth court, although she can't participate in court proceedings once she graduates from high school.

“I can volunteer in the office,” she said. “Or I can teach the minor-consuming classes.”

The things Kelahan has heard and seen in youth court may help prepare her for the future, but she never will discuss them outside of court.

“The huge confidentiality hasn't been hard for me,” she said. “Ever since I was very young, people tell me secrets. I don't tell.”

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.