Criminal Defense and Car Accident Lawyer for the City of Miami

Criminal defense in City of Miami

Miami has its own police department. Headquarters is at 400 NW 2nd Avenue, Miami, Florida 33128, and the department lists a non-emergency line, 305-579-6111, open 24 hours. It also lists a North Station at 1000 NW 62nd Street and a South Station at 2200 West Flagler Street. Most arrests inside the city start with a Miami officer, though on some roads and properties another agency may be the one that makes the arrest. The arrest report names it.

Neighborhoods such as Little Havana and Overtown sit inside the city, which is why a Little Havana arrest is a City of Miami case (Little Havana has its own page here). We defend people charged in Miami with DUI, drug offenses, theft, battery, domestic violence and driving-license charges. We speak Spanish, so you can tell us what happened in the language you think in.

Jurors in Miami-Dade state court report to one of two courthouses: civil jurors to the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center, 20 NW 1st Avenue, and criminal jurors to the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, 1351 NW 12th Street. Jury trials are held at those two buildings. The branch courthouses hold hearings and bench (non-jury) trials.

Closest branch courthouse

The closest branch courthouse to City of Miami is the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center. Details are below. Courts move calendars, so confirm before you go.

Getting to the main courthouses

Five main courthouses handle most Miami-Dade cases. Each card has the court’s address, a Google Maps link that starts from this place, and what the court itself publishes about transit and parking. Tolls apply on several routes.

Miami-Dade courthouse guide: locations, hours and holidays

Police in City of Miami

City of Miami has its own police department:

For an emergency, call 911.

Nearby emergency services

In an emergency, call 911.

These are the closest to the center of City of Miami, measured in a straight line, as listed by official sources on October 27, 2026.

Listed for convenience, not as a ranking or a recommendation. Confirm hours and phone numbers before you go.

Your County Commissioner

This place spans more than one County Commission district. Which one applies depends on the exact address. County Commission page: district maps and offices

This is correct as of November 1, 2026.

Hurricane and flood readiness

In an emergency, call 911.

Parts of City of Miami fall in storm surge planning Zones A, B, C, D, E. Check your exact address. County storm surge zone map · Know Your Zone

Flood zones vary property by property. Look up your address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and the county's flood zone map.

FEMA Flood Map Service Center

Miami-Dade flood zone map

Nearby official evacuation routes: Tamiami Trail (SW 8th Street), US 1 (South Dixie Highway), I-95, Dolphin Expressway (SR 836). Follow official orders and road closures. The county route data was last updated in 2018 and the state map is undated. State evacuation route and zone map (PDF)

Evacuation centers and shelters

The county decides which centers open, and which accept pets, only when an evacuation is ordered, and not every center opens for every storm. Check official announcements, or call 311, before you go. Open evacuation centers map · County hurricane information

Also: the FEMA App, or text SHELTER and your ZIP code to 43362. Storm forecasts come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center (storm information, not shelters). County emergency information: 311 in Miami-Dade, 305-468-5900 from outside the county, or 711 for Florida Relay. National Hurricane Center

History

Miami's story starts long before the city. The Tequesta lived on this shore for about a thousand years, and an Indian village of hundreds of people dating from 500 to 600 B.C. stood at the mouth of the Miami River. Spain claimed the area in 1566, and in 1836 the United States built Fort Dallas here during the Seminole conflicts.

The founding legend is a woman's. Miami is described as the only major U.S. city conceived by a woman, Julia Tuttle, a citrus grower and wealthy Cleveland native, and the Great Freeze of 1894-95 helped her case because Miami-area crops were the only ones in Florida that survived. Henry Flagler's railroad reached the settlement in 1896, and the city was incorporated on July 28, 1896, with a population of just over 300.

Growth came in waves. The 1920s boom turned a small southern town into a metropolis and earned the nickname “the Magic City.” The 1926 hurricane ended it, and Miami fell into a depression three years ahead of the rest of the country. Overtown, within the city, kept growing through the war years as a place where Black residents could live, work, own businesses and worship.

The biggest change of the modern era came in 1959, when the revolution in Cuba began a mass migration to Miami. By the 1960s Cubans were settling in the northwest part of the city, and the neighborhood now known as Little Havana became the symbol of that history.

The first 24 hours after an arrest

A person arrested in Florida has to be put in front of a judge within 24 hours, in person or through audio-video technology, unless he or she was lawfully released before then. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.130(a). That first appearance is where the judge tells the person the charges and decides release conditions or detention.

To find a relative, start with Miami Police on 305-579-6111, or use the jail search on our inmate search page with a full name and date of birth. Then call us.

What to do in the first 24 hours

1. Give your name, stay polite, and say you want a lawyer. Stop there.
2. Do not consent to a search of your phone, car or home.
3. Make notes now: the time, the place, the badge numbers, anyone who watched.
4. If you are the family, locate the person first, then call us. Someone picks up at any hour.
5. Non-citizens: tell your lawyer before any plea talk, because even a small plea can hurt an immigration case.

Where your case is heard

The Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center is a court location at 175 N.W. 1st Avenue, Miami, Florida 33128, at the corner of N.W. 2nd Street and N.W. 1st Avenue. The court lists hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. It says parking is limited, on the street and off it, and recommends Metro Bus or Metrorail to Government Center station. The page does not say which kinds of cases are heard there, so confirm with the court.

Felonies are heard by the Circuit Criminal Division at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, 1351 N.W. 12th Street, Miami, Florida 33125, inside the city. The court's main exit is N.W. 12th Avenue off FL-836 West, with N.W. 17th Avenue as the alternate. Federal criminal cases are in the downtown federal buildings listed below.

Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center (court guide)

Car accidents in City of Miami

A crash on a city street is usually worked by Miami Police, while one on an expressway may be handled by another agency. Ask for the agency name and a report number before you leave the scene.

Two hospitals sit on N.W. 12th Avenue and are open around the clock: UHealth Tower, with an emergency department at 1400 NW 12th Ave, and Jackson Memorial Hospital at 1611 N.W. 12th Avenue. For less urgent care, UHealth Jackson Urgent Care in Coral Gables, at 3737 S.W. 8th Street, is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.

We handle injury claims for people hurt in Miami, including head and brain injuries. Get checked first, take photos, and hold off on a recorded statement to any insurer until you have talked with a lawyer.

Local roads and landmarks

N.W. 12th Avenue ties the day-to-day emergency map together. Gerstein is at 1351 N.W. 12th Street, UHealth Tower at 1400 NW 12th Ave and Jackson Memorial at 1611 N.W. 12th Avenue.

Downtown, Miami Police headquarters is at 400 NW 2nd Avenue, close to the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center on N.W. 1st Avenue. Metrorail serves downtown and the Civic Center / Jackson Memorial Hospital area, according to Miami-Dade Transit.

Getting to us

We do not have an office inside the City of Miami. Our one office is in University Park / Westchester, at 11401 SW 40 St, Suite 250 (a Miami mailing address in unincorporated Miami-Dade). We do not publish a drive time because it swings with traffic.

Most first conversations happen by phone or WhatsApp, in English or Spanish, at any hour, and we meet at the courthouse when the case needs it.

Questions people ask about City of Miami

Who handles an arrest in the City of Miami?

The City of Miami Police Department, headquartered at 400 NW 2nd Avenue, polices the city. On some roads another agency may arrest, and the arrest report shows which one.

Is Little Havana a separate city?

No. Little Havana is a neighborhood inside the City of Miami, so Miami Police is the local department. The city's South Station is at 2200 West Flagler Street.

Where are the courts in downtown Miami?

The Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center is at 175 N.W. 1st Avenue. Felonies go to the Gerstein Justice Building at 1351 N.W. 12th Street, and the federal courts are on North Miami Avenue and N.E. Fourth Street.

What is the nearest emergency room?

UHealth Tower (1400 NW 12th Ave) and Jackson Memorial Hospital (1611 N.W. 12th Avenue) are both listed as open 24 hours. In an emergency, call 911.

My relative was arrested in Miami. What do I do first?

Find where the person is held, using the Miami Police non-emergency line, 305-579-6111, or the jail search on our site, and call us. A judge must see the person within 24 hours of arrest unless they were already released.

Do you have an office in the City of Miami?

No. Our one office is in University Park / Westchester, in unincorporated Miami-Dade. We represent clients arrested or injured in the City of Miami and can start by phone or WhatsApp.

Where to go next

Our work

• DUI defense
• Drug charges
• Theft charges
• Immigration consequences of a plea
• Personal injury and car accidents

Local guides

• Arrest and court process
• Bond hearings
• Find someone in jail
• Daily arrests in Florida

Nearby areas we serve

• Little Havana
• Coral Gables
• West Miami