The reigning Harford County Mock Trial Champions, the JC Mock Trial team, faces a location change. This year, the majority of their trials will now take place in Baltimore County.

Both Harford County and Baltimore County schools will compete against each other at the Towson Courthouse, which is different from last year’s competitions that only allowed Harford County schools to compete against other Harford County schools at the Bel Air Courthouse.

Mock Trial is broken up into different “circuits.” There are eight in the state, and schools in each circuit compete against each other. Once a school wins the circuit championship, they move on and compete against the champions from other circuits. JC is now located in Circuit 3, which consists of Harford and Baltimore County.

According to Mock Trial coach Sean Connolly, the team will compete in two preliminary trials at the Bel Air Courthouse before going to the Towson Courthouse to compete in elimination round trials. The two preliminary trials determine the number of points a team has going into the single-elimination round on a scale of one to five.

The team competed against Fallston High School in their first trial on Jan. 12. The team represented the defense in the trial and won.

Last year was the first time Mock Trial was divided by county, and Harford County schools were placed in their own, separate circuit from Baltimore County. This system proved positive for the JC Mock Trial Team, who won the Harford County championships. They then went on to play Beth Tfiloh, the Baltimore County Champions.

Many team members enjoyed how close the trials were at the Bel Air Courthouse and how people, such as faculty, parents, and friends, could easily watch and support them. However, with elimination round trials, the majority of the trials the team competes in, now being held in Towson, it will be hard for these supporters to continue to come to trials.

“Our principal and Mr. O’Hara would support us, and Mr. Lowe and Mr. Schick would come to watch. It’s just too bad because now it is a bit inconvenient for them and harder for them to make it,” Connolly said.

When Connolly heard the news of the location change he was shocked and tried fight the change. “I emailed them asking them not to make the change because I didn’t think it was fair and explained the inconvenience, but they did it anyway so I’ll look to see for next year,” Connolly said.

The reason for the change hasn’t been clarified or announced, but Mock Trial team captain, Olivia Stepanian has an idea. “I think they switched it because [the circuit] is so small, it’s only us and Baltimore County,”

According to Connolly, the students also feel inconvenienced because they have busy schedules and because of late matches and travel time, many end up doing things such as homework on the bus.

“This year we’re going have to get out of class early to make it to our trials on time, and it’s annoying to miss class,” team member Caleb Olsen said.

Each trial is usually takes around an hour, but with the time included for waiting on judges and deliberation, the trials usually require around two hours.

“It’s kind of unfair to the students, and that’s who I really feel bad for,” Connolly said.

Stepanian is also not fond of the change in location. “I do not like it because it is just not fair to us, and it’s almost like [the Baltimore County schools] have a homecourt advantage,” she said.

“I think and hope that they will change the match locations back [to the County Courthouse] once they realize how many teams are coming from Harford County,” Stepanian said.

Aside from location changes, Connolly is positive about the team. “Other than that the team is doing great. Everyone is doing nicely, and the nice part about it is besides practicing, the team is also doing a lot of mentoring, which is always nice to see. We have a very talented team — I’m so proud of them,” Connolly said.

Stepanian agrees with Connolly. “All the new witnesses are super promising, and I’m so excited more people are joining. I think it’s going to be a good season.”

Pia Scotto is a Community Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.