Start with the record type: court case, arrest, jail record or Florida criminal history
A “Miami criminal records” search can mean several different things. Felony and misdemeanor court cases in Miami-Dade County are searched through the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court and Comptroller’s Criminal Justice Online Case Search; current jail custody uses Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation; police reports are requested from the law-enforcement agency that created them; and statewide Florida criminal-history searches are provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Which Miami criminal record do you actually need?
Criminal court case
Use for felony and misdemeanor case information, dockets, court events, filed documents and dispositions.
Current county custody
Use Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation for people currently held in county custody.
Arrest or police report
Request qualifying reports from the agency that created them, such as Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office or City of Miami Police.
Florida criminal history
Use for statewide Florida arrest and prosecution criminal-history information available for public release.
Criminal appeal
Miami-Dade trial-court appeals are generally reviewed by Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal.
Federal criminal case
Federal cases in Miami are separate and generally use PACER and the Southern District of Florida.
Search Miami-Dade felony and misdemeanor criminal cases online
The Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court and Comptroller maintains the Criminal Justice Online Case Search.
The system provides public access to criminal felony and misdemeanor cases and includes both case-search and calendar-search functions.
Open Miami-Dade Criminal Justice OnlineHow to search Miami criminal court records step by step
Open Criminal Justice Online
Use the official Miami-Dade Clerk system rather than beginning with a commercial background-check site.
Choose a search method
Search by defendant, case number, state case number, citation/police number, jail number or another supported identifier.
Use the strongest identifier
A case number is usually more reliable than a common name. For a defendant search, use full first and last name and add DOB where available.
Open the case card
Review the case type, court, charges, dockets, hearings and documents.
Read the disposition
Look for conviction, dismissal, acquittal, nolle prosequi, withheld adjudication, plea or another final outcome.
Order official proof if needed
Use the Clerk’s certified-copy or disposition-letter process if another agency requires an official record.
Miami-Dade criminal case search methods
The current Criminal Justice Online system provides several useful search routes:
Best when known
Directly targets the court file and reduces identity ambiguity.
Name-based search
Uses first and last name and can include race, sex and date of birth.
State identifier
Useful when another Florida criminal-justice source gives the state case number.
Incident-linked search
Helpful when you have a citation or law-enforcement case number rather than a court number.
Custody-linked search
Useful when the person’s jail record provides an identifying jail number.
Upcoming hearing
Judge Hearing Calendar and First Appearance Calendar can help locate scheduled court activity.
Miami-Dade felony criminal records
Miami-Dade Circuit Criminal handles felony matters. The Clerk states that Circuit Criminal receives and processes felony affidavits of probable cause, grand-jury indictments and arrest warrants.
Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building
1351 NW 12th StreetSuite 9000
Miami, FL 33125
Search the case online first. If the record is not sufficiently clear or a certified disposition is required, use the felony criminal division’s copy process.
Miami-Dade misdemeanor criminal records
County Criminal handles Miami-Dade misdemeanor cases and related county-level criminal matters.
Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building
1351 NW 12th StreetSuite 8100
Miami, FL 33125
Miami-Dade’s criminal e-filing guidance lists several misdemeanor-related case types, including misdemeanor, county ordinance, municipal ordinance and non-criminal infraction designations.
Find Miami criminal dockets, hearings and court dates
Criminal Justice Online provides case and calendar tools that can help identify pending hearings.
Look for:
- docket entries
- judge assignment
- hearing date
- first appearance
- motions and orders
- plea or trial settings
- sentencing activity
- case disposition
Miami-Dade also participates in Florida’s e-Notify service, which can provide text or email reminders for qualifying upcoming hearings.
Viewing Miami-Dade criminal court documents
After locating a criminal case, Criminal Justice Online can display document details and, where public electronic access is allowed, document images.
The Clerk notes that if you cannot see a criminal or misdemeanor document image, registering as a user—free of charge—may provide access consistent with the Florida Supreme Court’s electronic-court-record access standards and security matrix.
Miami-Dade criminal certified copies and current fees
Criminal case certified copies can currently be requested online, by email, by mail or by telephone.
| Service | Current published fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal case copy | $1 per page | Published Clerk criminal-copy rate. |
| Certification | $2 per document | Added when a certified case document is requested. |
| Certified criminal-history/disposition copy | $7 | Published for certified criminal-history disposition requests. |
| Unknown case year / number search | $2 per year, per name | Added for each year that must be searched. |
| Felony scanned case file on CD | $42 | Applies to qualifying felony case-file CD requests; research fees can also apply. |
For a mailed criminal-document request, the Clerk asks for details including:
- defendant’s name
- case number
- date of birth
- type of charge
- specific document requested
- requester’s name and address
- self-addressed stamped envelope
- appropriate payment
Examples of criminal documents the Clerk identifies include affidavits of arrest, information/indictment, judgment and sentence, probation/community-control orders, motions, general orders and depositions.
View Miami-Dade certified-copy instructionsRequest a certified Miami-Dade criminal-history disposition letter
Miami-Dade provides a useful local service that is different from a statewide FDLE criminal-history report: a certified criminal history disposition letter.
The Clerk says the letter provides the results of a local criminal case-record search for felony and misdemeanor cases.
Miami-Dade inmate, jail and booking records
Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation operates a separate Inmate In-Custody Search.
The search accepts the person’s last name and first name or initial.
The current result can display:
- name
- date of birth
- race
- sex
- current location
- charges
- bond amount
- jail number
- booking date and time
- mugshot
Inmate Information
General / inmate information:
786-263-7000
Booking: 786-263-5312
Inmate Records: 786-263-4222
Release: 786-263-5360
Miami-Dade warrant searches
Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office now provides warrant-related services and maintains a Warrants Bureau. The Sheriff’s site also advertises an open-warrants search through its Records services.
Doral, FL 33172
Phone:
305-471-1700
Fax: 305-471-1736
The Warrants Bureau is responsible for serving felony warrants issued by the Miami-Dade local criminal-justice system as well as warrants originating in other jurisdictions.
Florida statewide wanted-person search
FDLE also provides a free Wanted Persons Search.
The FDLE database contains Florida warrant information reported by law-enforcement agencies and authorised for public release. FDLE says its public-access files are updated every 24 hours.
Miami police reports, arrest reports and public-record requests
A court record and a police report are different records. Request the law-enforcement report from the agency that created it.
County law-enforcement records
The Sheriff’s Records service accepts requests for reports, background checks, body-worn-camera material and other qualifying public records.
The Sheriff currently directs users to its online Public Records Center as the fastest request route.
Miami Police Department records
For incidents handled by City of Miami Police, request the record from the City rather than Miami-Dade County.
Police Records Unit: 305-603-6477
City of Miami public records can currently be requested through its online NextRequest system, by email at PublicRecords@miamigov.com, or through the City’s public-record office.
Florida statewide criminal-history search through FDLE
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Division of Criminal Justice Information Services, is Florida’s central repository for criminal-history information.
FDLE currently charges $24 per public criminal-history search.
Open FDLE Florida criminal-history checksImmediate online result
Search online and receive results immediately.
Formal Florida history
Use the appropriate FDLE option when certification is required.
Authorised applicant route
Used for certain statutory licensing, employment or agency background-screening purposes.
FDLE describes Florida criminal-history records as containing records of arrests and prosecutions in Florida. A court record may still be needed to understand the precise disposition of a particular case.
How to review your own Florida criminal-history record
FDLE provides a Personal Review process for people who want to inspect their own Florida criminal-history record for accuracy and completeness.
The Personal Review requires fingerprints taken by a law-enforcement or criminal-justice agency.
Miami-Dade criminal appeals: Third District Court of Appeal
Miami-Dade County is within Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal.
Miami, FL 33175
Phone:
305-229-3200
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., excluding holidays
If a Miami-Dade criminal judgment was appealed, check the appellate record before assuming the trial-court result remained unchanged.
Copies or certified copies from the Third DCA may currently be requested through the appellate clerk.
Sealing and expunging Miami criminal records
Miami-Dade Clerk directs users seeking sealing or expungement information to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and FDLE.
For ordinary court-ordered sealing or expungement under Florida Statutes §§ 943.0585 and 943.059, the first step is generally applying to FDLE for a Certificate of Eligibility.
The current FDLE application requires items including:
- completed eligibility application
- fingerprint card/form
- arrest information
- charge information
- required prosecutor/court information where applicable
- $75 nonrefundable processing fee
Receiving a Certificate of Eligibility does not itself seal or expunge the record. The applicant must still file the appropriate petition, and the court decides whether to grant relief.
Federal criminal records in Miami are separate
Federal prosecutions in Miami are handled by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Federal cases are generally researched through PACER.
Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse
400 North Miami Avenue8th Floor North
Miami, FL 33128
Records: 305-523-5210
The Southern District states that PACER contains its criminal and civil cases filed on or after July 1, 2000. Older archived criminal files can require retrieval through federal archival procedures.
In-person Miami-Dade criminal record access
Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building
1351 NW 12th StreetMiami, FL 33125
Current public hours:
Monday–Friday
9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Felonies: Suite 9000
Misdemeanors: Suite 8100
Traffic: Suite 124
In-person criminal records help
The Clerk provides computers for criminal-history searching and accepts qualifying certified-record requests at criminal court locations.
Bring the defendant’s name, DOB, case number and case year whenever available.
Map: Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building
Miami-Dade felony, misdemeanor and traffic criminal divisions are located in the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building near Jackson Memorial Hospital and the Civic Center area.
Miami criminal-record search tips that save time
Use the case number when possible
It is safer than relying on a common Miami name and reduces false matches.
Use DOB in defendant searches
The Clerk’s defendant search supports DOB and other identifying criteria.
Use jail number for recent custody
A jail number from Miami-Dade Corrections can help connect custody information to the court case.
Do not confuse Miami with Miami-Dade
City of Miami Police records are city records; Miami-Dade court records are county judicial records.
Local history and statewide history differ
A Clerk disposition letter is Miami-Dade-specific. FDLE is the Florida statewide criminal-history repository.
Check the final disposition
A filed felony or misdemeanor charge is not proof that the defendant was convicted.
Register if document images are restricted
Free Clerk registration may provide broader electronic document access where court-access rules permit it.
Check the Third DCA when appealed
An appellate ruling can change or affect the trial-court disposition.
No result does not prove no record
Sealing, expungement, restricted access, name variation, another county, another court or incomplete identifiers can all affect a search.
Using Miami criminal records for employment or housing
Public access to a Miami-Dade case does not automatically mean every possible use of that information is lawful.
Employment, housing, credit, insurance and other eligibility decisions can involve federal or state consumer-reporting requirements.
Miami criminal records: frequently asked questions
1. Where can I search Miami criminal court records online?
Use the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court and Comptroller Criminal Justice Online Case Search for public felony and misdemeanor case information.
2. Can I search a Miami criminal case by defendant name?
Yes. The Clerk’s defendant search supports first name, middle name, last name, race, sex and date-of-birth fields.
3. How do I find someone currently in the Miami-Dade jail?
Use Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation’s Inmate In-Custody Search. It can show custody location, charges, bond, jail number, booking date and other current information.
4. How much is a certified Miami-Dade criminal-history disposition letter?
The Clerk currently lists certified copies at $7. If the case year or case number is unknown, an additional $2 per year, per name search fee applies for every year searched.
5. How much are Miami-Dade certified criminal case documents?
The Clerk currently lists criminal case copies at $1 per page with a $2 certification fee per document.
6. Where can I search Florida criminal history statewide?
Use the Florida Department of Law Enforcement criminal-history record-check service. The current public search fee is $24.
7. How do I search Miami-Dade warrants?
Use the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office warrant resources for local warrant information. FDLE also provides a statewide Wanted Persons Search, but FDLE warns that its public data is not final confirmation that a warrant remains active.
8. Where do Miami-Dade criminal appeals go?
Miami-Dade is within the Third District Court of Appeal. Check the Third DCA if the trial-court criminal judgment was appealed.
9. Can a sealed or expunged Miami criminal record disappear from public searches?
Yes. Qualifying Florida records can be sealed or expunged after the required FDLE eligibility process and a court order. Restricted records may no longer appear through ordinary public access.
10. Does Miami-Dade’s criminal search include federal cases?
No. Federal criminal cases are separate and are generally searched through PACER and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Official Miami and Florida criminal-record resources
- Miami-Dade Clerk — Criminal Justice Online Case Search
- Miami-Dade Clerk — Criminal Records
- Miami-Dade Clerk — Criminal Court
- Miami-Dade Clerk — Criminal Certified Copies
- Miami-Dade Corrections — Inmate Search
- Miami-Dade Corrections — Contact and Records
- Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office
- Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office — Warrants Bureau
- FDLE — Florida Criminal History Record Check
- FDLE — Wanted Persons Search
- FDLE — Personal Review
- FDLE — Seal and Expunge Process
- Florida Third District Court of Appeal
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida — Records
- PACER — Federal Court Records