High school students in ELPO Law program visit Justice Center

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - Several Bowling Green area students visited the Warren County Justice Center Tuesday morning to meet with judges, learn about careers in law enforcement and hear from a variety of legal professionals.

“It’s just a great opportunity to mentor and bring information, give them access to students who may be interested in either a career in law or law enforcement,” Ashley Carter, the Director of Marketing and Business Development for ELPO Law said.

The students are part of the Legal Diversity Pipeline project created by ELPO Law during the fall of the 2017-2018 school year.

The program aims to help mentor students who would like to enter the field of law, with a particular focus on underrepresented and diverse populations.

Its goal is to help diversify the field of law by ensuring that students of many different backgrounds consider law as a career option.

“I’m wanting to become a criminal defense attorney whenever I grow up,” Warren East High School Junior, Zoey Rackovan said. “Today, I got to experience some things that I haven’t seen before seeing the holding cells and actually seeing active court, different things like that”.

Rackovan also participates in Teen Court, where teenagers can defend other teenagers that have committed misdemeanors and small crimes like theft, and possession of marijuana.

“[We] will go up in front and a courtroom similar to this, we’ll talk where we’ll play the case for our defendant...they already plead guilty,” she said. “It’s not a determinant of whether or not they’re innocent or guilty. It’s basing their sentence”.

For participants like Bowling Green High School Senior Molly Arnold, the program was a way for her to find a career where she can help people.

“I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to get some fulfillment from life,” Arnold said. “I just knew law would be a perfect way... from defending it to even appealing it, the law can always change”.

The program also has several legal professionals visit high school classrooms to discuss what educational paths students should pursue if they want to go into some type of law, as a career.

The program begins every year when the school year starts.

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