The National High School Mock Trial Championship began in 1984. This first competition consisted of teams from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. The competition since has grown and now is considered to be an All-State tournament. Each year, various participating states around the country take turns hosting the tournament. There are only three teams in the tournament's history that have won the competition consecutive times: Family Christian Academy Homeschoolers from Tennessee (now CSTHEA) in the years 2002–2003, Jonesboro High School from Georgia in the years 2007–2008, and Albuquerque Academy from New Mexico in the years 2012–2013. The 2011 Championship was held in Phoenix, Arizona. Albuquerque, New Mexico hosted in 2012; Indianapolis, Indiana hosted in 2013; Madison, Wisconsin hosted in 2014; and Raleigh, North Carolina hosted in 2015. The 2016 competition was held in Boise, Idaho. Hartford, Connecticut hosted in 2017; Reno, Nevada hosted in 2018. The 2019 National High School Mock Trial Competition was held in Athens, Georgia. New York State does not participate in the national competition; rather, it has its own intrastate competition consisting of over 350 teams throughout the state. It follows similar rules to that of the national competition. New York has three levels of play, county competition, regional competition, and the finals, which is held in Albany, New York in May. Before 2021, the state of Maryland did not compete in the National High School Mock Trial Championship, and had their own statewide mock trial competition similar to that of New York; it did compete in the national competition for the first time in 2021, and was crowned champion. New Jersey and North Carolina both pulled out of the NHSMTC competition following the 2005 season due to a refusal by the organization to accommodate an Orthodox Jewish team, Torah Academy of Bergen County, that had won New Jersey's state championship. Both states rejoined in 2010 after their concerns regarding accommodation had been addressed.
