Testifying in front of a courtroom of strangers is a trying experience for anyone, especially for a child who has no idea what to expect when the approach the bench for the first time.

Employees with the Cass County Prosecutor’s Office have recognized this fact, and have spent the last several years enlisting the help from a group of people who these children will be able to relate to best — their own peers.

The prosecutor’s office is holding their seventh-annual “Going to Court” book cover contest, with elementary students from Dowagiac’s Patrick Hamilton and Kincheloe, Cassopolis’ Sam Adams, and Edwardsburg’s Eagle Lake schools submitting drawings about what they imagine stepping inside the county courthouse is like. Volunteers with the Cass County COA will judge the submissions for this year’s competition, with the top placers going inside the county’s “Going to Court” booklet, which they give to comfort children before they testify in court.

Alongside the children’s drawings of judges, lawyers and other familiar sights inside the courtroom, the booklet includes child-friendly information about the criminal justice system to help its recipient get a better grasp of what’s going on before they take the witness bench, said Victim Rights Coordinator Marie Anderson.

“It gives them a whole gamut of what they may be going through if they go to court to testify,” Anderson said. “It helps put them at ease. It lets them know that they’re not alone.”

Held every year in conjunction with the county’s Crime Victims’ Rights Week, the contest is designed to get schools involved with the efforts to recognize the struggles of people who have been the victim of criminal activity.

This year the prosecutor’s office has seen an uptick in submissions from local children, Anderson said.

“We have hundreds of pictures,” she said. “I couldn’t believe we got so many this year.”

Many of these pictures will be placed on display throughout the halls of the country courthouse, located outside Cassopolis on M-62.

In addition to receiving a place inside the booklet, the winners of this year’s contest will be honored by the county board of commissioners during their meeting at 7 p.m. on May 7, inside the county annex building in Cassopolis.