Bar, law exams teach delegates about careers

By Nadine Moore

Delegates decided early on what their week would entail.

Girls State offered delegates the opportunity to attend either a law and procedure or law enforcement class on Tuesday afternoon.

Delegates picked classes based upon what sounded interesting to them. Both classes went into detail on the specific field.

Delegates needed to pass the bar exam in order to consider positions in the courts. Similar to the bar exam, delegates needed to pass the law enforcement to be considered for the forensics team or positions such as county sheriff or deputy.

Sandy McKeown, director of University of South Dakota’s criminal justice studies, taught delegates specifically about the judicial branch of government.

Delegates learned about the court system, different court procedures, the names of each individual part of the court and other basic facts of the judiciary part of government.

“It’s good stuff to know,” said Detroit delegate Jenny Luczak. “I feel like I could use it later in life. There’s a lot of stuff that goes into the law. A lot of people might think it’s easy, but there are a lot of different factors that go into it.”

Col. Craig Price, superintendent of SD Highway Patrol, taught delegates about the key responsibilities of law enforcement.

He discussed the roots of early law enforcement and what they do before evolving into what law enforcement is seen as today, the purpose of different departments and bureaus. He also discussed statistics of women in law enforcement.

“They talked about the forensics team, and I thought that would be interesting,” said Washington delegate Kyla Kasuske. “I learned that cops do a lot more than arrest people. They do a lot more (work) behind the scenes, especially in smaller towns like mine.”

Both Luczak and Kasuske passed their exams.

Senior counselor Meghan Schenk said she liked that the law and procedure class introduces delegates to the field of law as a career.

She praised McKeown’s approach to teaching the class.

Price emphasized the importance of understanding law enforcement as a whole.

“Law enforcement is a very big part of any community,” Price said. “They gain a better understanding of law enforcement as a whole whether it be city, county, state or federal law enforcement.”

Those who passed their exam began receiving positions in that field on Wednesday afternoon.

Delegates interested in law received a tour of USD’s law school on Wednesday as well.