Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building — Local services in Miami

This review is to help people selected for jury duty. You'll receive a summons via mail, and should then complete the online registration process. This enables you to fill out your jury questionnaire in advance, and subsequently to receive emails with instructions on when to arrive to the courthouse. On the day: I recommend taking metro rail, as the parking lot fills up if you're assigned to arrive at noon. What to bring: juror badge, sweater, water bottle (emptied for security), power bank to recharge your device, book/laptop/tablet for entertainment while you wait. The jury selection room opened about 5 minutes prior to my assigned arrival time. You'll wait in a queue to scan your juror badge and enter the room to sit down - pick a seat where you'll be most comfortable. The jury selection room has plenty of seating, some tables on the side, bathrooms, and there are snack machines/water fountain in the hallway. There's also a cafe to purchase meals. The group will be sworn in together, and gradually they will call names at random. In terms of "amenities", keep your expectations low, it's an old building, with old elevators and kind employees. If you have dietary restrictions and are selected, you can pack a lunch and will have access to fridge/microwave. Hope this helps...

I'm here right now for jury duty. It's my 3rd time being called since living here for 6 years. Look, I don't mind jury duty at all. I come and while waiting play games or do my remote job. No big deal. I'm here to serve. But today... First don't get here before 8am at all. Everyone is lined up outside the jury pool room in the hall because the room is not open yet. Everyone waiting and it is HOT. No where to sit while waiting for those that are disabled or elderly. Once inside the pool room, do not expect to be able to connect to wifi consistently. If you can get it to connect at all, it drops every 30 seconds to a minute. If you rely on a remote server or VPN to work, you will not be able to. I tried using my Hotspot on my phone too but I couldn't even get service to do that. MAYBE people had luck near the windows with that, but I certainly did not. Make sure to get food ahead of time or wait til lunch dismissal at noon. They have the little cafe open where you can get some things while in the room, but that could be a while with a heavy jury day (30+min wait in line currently). So I'll just continue to wait here today and hope to be...

I recently had an extremely frustrating experience at the Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts, Traffic Violation Bureau (Room 124) with Supervisor Emily.

I initially visited the courthouse to resolve an issue where I was marked absent for my court date on January 22, even though this was clearly an error on the courthouse’s part. I followed the guidance provided to me and previously filed a motion as advised. However, upon returning with my own motion that I prepared myself, Supervisor Emily informed me that because I am not an attorney, I must wait in line again—despite already having completed the necessary steps beforehand.

Her dismissive attitude and refusal to acknowledge the mistake on the court’s end made an already stressful situation worse. Instead of assisting me in correcting an error caused by the system, she insisted on unnecessary delays, causing me to wait unnecessarily.

Courthouse staff should be there to help the public navigate these situations fairly, not make the process more difficult. I hope future visitors receive better assistance and that customer service at this...