Houston Municipal Court — Local services in Houston

I got called for jury duty recently. I had no idea it was traffic court. I know it's my civic duty, but what a long boring day! I didn't expect this to be a fun filled day, but a review is still necessary. From the start, I was annoyed I couldn't find the "H" parking lot to use my jury duty free parking coupon from my jury summons letter. I thought it was just me. I ended up using the parking directly across from the building. There were plenty of spots when I arrived at 8:34 AM. My duty didn't start until 9:30 AM, but lucky me, I was early - heavy eye roll! The first parking meter closest to my spot that I attempted to use was broken. Nothing showed up on the screen to start my ticket purchase. I walked to the next meter in the middle of the lot. Anyone wanna guess if it worked. Correct, it did not! I moved a couple steps over and tried the third one. Finally! A working meter! Thankfully it wasn't raining, but even at 8:30ish AM in Houston, it is still hot. I was not pleased I had to try so many meters. $5.00 for 4 hours or $10.00 for the whole day. I opted for the whole day since I had no idea what time I would end up being released. I walked back to my car and placed the ticket on my dash. I also took a photo of it to have on my phone just in case. As I entered the building, I was greeted and told to remove my shoes. I get it, but the mat I had to walk on, while barefoot, was so dirty. I finally got my belongings and headed to the jury waiting room. The jury administrator was kind. I handed her my summons and she asked if I parked in "H". I told her I couldn't find it, but that I did self-pay in the lot across the street. Then, I took my seat. As more people entered, I kept hearing them say they too could not find "H". Phew! It wasn't just me. I heard at least 7 or 8 people say they couldn't find the free juror parking lot. We eventually were told about the process and due to the low number of cases, we would probably be released BEFORE lunch time. The judge swore us in and we started our long day of sitting. We were free to come and go and use devices. A bathroom is located directly outside the juror room. Down the hallway is a little area with multiple vending machines. I was surprised the prices weren't crazy expensive. One vending machine takes Apple Pay via your iPhone, so that was cool. The other machines took cash, coins, and credit cards. You are allowed to eat and drink in the juror room. In fact, most people had their own drinks they brought along with backpacks, and a couple people even had a lunch kit. I had no idea you could bring all that. I will be more prepared next time. As lunch time came and we were all still there, we were dismissed for an hour to get a bite to eat. A food service called Fooda was in the vending machine area with 3 types of chicken options at $15.14 each after tax. The serving portion was large, but the taste was not that great. I got the curry chicken. Maybe I should have gotten something else. We returned to the room for more waiting. No one ever got called and we finally got released at 3:10 PM. All this for traffic court and only $6.00 paid for the service. After my gas, mileage, time away from work, parking at $10.00, 2 waters at $2.00 each, lunch at $15.14, and my snack at $1.35, a $6.00 pay is insulting. And again, all for traffic court?? The people who don't want to pay their ticket put all of our day on hold. Maybe I don't understand it fully, so maybe it should be explained better. My suggestion would be to have the free parking more identifiable, fix your meters, lower the price of parking if not using the free lot, clean the entrance mat, offer free bottled water, offer one free snack in AM and one free snack in the PM, lower the price of your lunch service, and up the price on what is paid to the juror. My time is valuable as I know everyone else's is too. It's a hard hit on people who are trying to do the...

Date: 11/01/2016 at 3:44PM Cashier: e135399

It was my first time here. I hardly pay for the ticket. Not sure what to do. Everyone was nice and helpful when I first enter the door. One of the men told to get in line wait for the number to call out than I walk to that number. Then four second later there were two number called out fourteen and eighteen. I choosed the window fourteen. When I showed up at the window I said hi!, how are you today to the African American lady with a smile. She replied back to me how can I help you with a serious impression on her face also in her voice. I smile back at her and replied to her I would like to pay for my ticket. She said ok, you know what kind of ticket you have? With a serious face and not happy at all. I smile and said yes I do. She said ok do you have your ticket with you or id? I replied to her I did not know that I need to bring my iD or my ticket with me. She get more serious with me on her voice and her face impressions which make me uncomfortable. I keep smile and drink it all up. She said than how do you normally pay for your ticket or how you going to pay for your ticket? I told her I don't know it my first time here I am not sure what I need to bring or how it work. May you please help me?

My advice is that if you are wanting a true hearing and a chance to argue and dismiss or reduce your parking citation, to not opt for the online “hearing”. It is not a hearing. It is a seeing, at most. Your testimony will have to be whittled down to 1000 characters (which is not much to fully explain a circumstance), and you will almost certainly get an automated denial. It is advertised as a way to be pre-emptive and convenient, but mostly it is convenient for the parking department and makes it easier for them to skip over human interaction to more easily protect citations. After receiving a denial for dismissal, I rode my bicycle down to the municipal court down a dangerous and dirty pedestrian sidewalk on Houston street full of trash and urine to get a real hearing, but was denied because my online submission prevented an opportunity for a real, in person hearing. While in line, I witnessed the hearing officer give citation dismissals or reductions to virtually everyone who showed up in person, including a family with a citation so outdated, that it was past the date allowed for a hearing. Without even giving testimony, that family’s citation was cut exponentially and their child was given candy. I was happy for them, but it is unclear how they pick and choose who gets a break and who doesn’t. There is definitely some profiling and favoritism at play here at this courthouse. This was my first parking violation in Houston. It was a true mistake on my part. I do feel that I deserved a warning or reduced citation and I do not feel that I truly got a chance to be heard. I was told by the officer on duty that if I appeal, it just means that I will pay more. $70 is a very steep fine for a first time parking citation, and the hearing process doesn’t reward those who are proactive, especially for online “hearings”. Please put the money from my citation towards cleaning up the pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure leading to the courthouse. The safer and more accessible it is to use car-free options, the less we can fall victim to parking entrapment. I will say that there were a few genuinely friendly staff members at the information desk and at the security entrance. The other officers can learn some...