Clerks are of no help. The whole system is a sad joke. Can't even access your case online. They don't send info about your case via email unless you're an atty. read more

Excellent excuse to come to downtown. I would never imagine of being summoned twice in my short time living in Houston. And, best of all, at the same building. My first visit was in the summer of 2011. It was before me owning a fancy electronic, I wouldn't understand who would use WiFi. So, I met a couple of interesting JD (jury duty) regulars. A school teacher brought an ice chest, she called it "picnic basket." Another guy hardly talked, he finished reading 2 books while we waited hours in the hallway for voir dire. 4 years later, I'm no longer a rookie after reading reviews from my fellow Yelpers. A lady sat next to me complained how cold it was. I thought, "you should read Farrah's review by bringing a jacket." (Hehe. I was laughing silently). I was glad to see many improvements. 4 years ago, we were sorted through many reassigned juror numbers. Then, herded from room to room and waited in the hallways seeing defendants families snared at us. Not to mention can't eat or drink if you didn't bring a "picnic basket." Now, there are plenty of instructional signage to the security check point at the garage prior to entering the tunnel. My appointed time is in the afternoon. So, no more endless waiting for voir dire. Here are my tips: - bathrooms are on both side of vending machines. They're not clearly marked. Just push the doors lightly. If they don't open, it's probably not bathroom. - chairs in the lobby are recliners. If you didn't have breakfast, don't rock on it. You'll get dizzy. (Watch my in-app video) - bring snacks, lunch and something to drink. The cafe is not always open. There is only one microwave available. - take the opportunity of free METRO day pass to shop and eat while you're in downtown. (OMG, I walked a few blocks to Phoenicia for my first visit.) read more

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I did three days of jury duty, so I'm practically a lawyer now. This is Downtown's newest government building. And basically, this is how my JD experience went after I had to reschedule twice. BTW, if you do it over the phone after the maxed out second reschedule attempt, i rec emailing the office. I waited on the phone for almost 2 hours (I timed it) and got no response. I emailed as I waited and within minutes, I was given my new time. Bingo bango. *Arrive no later than 15 after your call time. Doors shut after that. *There's a parking garage on Congress just one block away, and the JD office will give you a voucher for up to $6. They'll even give you a bus pass - so no excuses that you can't make it *Bring your laptop. They have free Wi-Fi! *Bring your jacket. This place is f-f-f-f-freezing. *Just when you think you're going to get dismissed, they pick you! You only get paid $6 for your first day, and $40 a day after. Only if you're in a criminal hearing, will they pay for your lunch AND it's a supervised lunch. All in all, it was an interesting experience, though I wouldn't wan to do it again. I was exhausted, cold and took far too many notes. Felt like I was in school. Now I see why lawyers, judges, and bailiffs are always in a bad mood. read more

Park at 1401 Congress to be able to go through the underground entrance, plus pay only $6 parking. I'm sure you can access the tunnel access from other courthouse nearby. This parking option and underground entrance beats standing in line (outside above ground) from the main outside entrance. The staff is very thorough and the process is very organized. Check out pics. read more

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Get there EARLY for Jury Duty! I got there at around 7:50, but after parking and finding the building it was already 8. The place was really packed and the line seemed to never end! if you get there early there is no line and you can enjoy the free WiFi until its time to start. Do no park on the street, park at 1401 Franklin or you may find a ticket in your car. They gave us our instructions and thankfully they let us out before going to court to move our cars. The street parking is only good for 3 hours, even if you pay for the whole day. After we were sent to our particular courts the process was very smooth. We were selected for our cases, given some more instructions and trial begins. If you don't get selected you get to go home and do it all again in a year or two! read more

if you are stuck appearing in court, their website offers access to your own file. able to view documents filed against you. 85% of appointed attorneys are private firms. huge difference from public defender. judicial system is not broken, it's abused. educated against uneducated. my people perish from lack of wisdom and spiritual knowledge. god promised, seek and ye shall find. not unusual to wait up to a year in jail for evidence but it should be. judges explicitly bias, against black or white, more about the mind, don't go in blind, innocent do not rise, "under duress" sign, below the line, know your rights, demand jury trial, no deal up & fight, stand together but do not rise, 75% are held pretrial, most restrictive without data to justify. their pen is abusive, vile. submit to authority, rise. The innocent do not rise. read more

"It is both a privilege and your civic duty to serve on a jury." I have to say that the video was very successful in making me believe that I am truly needed here. Civic Service - total group think! Woot. Let's begin with the actual facility: it deserves 5 stars. It is very well appointed with areas for technology docking, City Cafe (*do yourself a favor if you're hungry and wait for the cafe to open - cheaper with Strbizzle.. Or bring your own goodies! There is a micro!), comfortable seating in separate rooms. Each room is equipped with not state of the art... But decent technology and sound system. Four separate rooms empty into a middle "lounge" area where you wait. And hai! That's what I'm doing!! I will criticize the fact that the vending machines are a rip off. I shouldnt have to pay for parking to "serve my civic duty." The $6 discounted rate is nothing if you think about the off lots for $5. And your facility, should have the address ON it not on the ground hidden by shrubs. There is such thing as rush hour traffic and you want people here at 0800. I cannot find you if I'm not famil and you look like a restaurant. I digress, I'm still waiting on voir dire and a bit grumpy. At least I'm sitting under a nice skylight and I'm going to get a check for six whole smacks for my service!! read more

Harris County District Clerk - Public Services & Government Near Me - Houston, Texas

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This place is nicely designed, clean, and mostly staffed with friendly people. Surprised a bit by the level of stupidity in my fellow citizens who tried to get out of jury duty. ('the overhead lights make me dizzy' - 'I cannot be fair on most things' - 'I don't trust contracts' - 'I'm an idiot').. Come on folks, jury duty is a small price to pay for the benefits you get from living in a democracy. Ended up on a 2 day trial and loved it. The professionalism of all staff involved combined with learning about a topic I know nothing about - plus being able to convict a scammer like we did - It truely was a great experience. read more

Harris County District Clerk - Floor 9 or 3 or 6---wait where am I ? - Public Services & Government Near Me - Houston, Texas

Pro tips for jury duty: -Park at the discounted garage parking lot (noted on the pamphlet) and arrive early. Its $6 to park all day. Ignore all the other signs that say "court house parking" because they range from $10-12. I did pass by one place that was $5 though. -Bring the parking ticket with you! This will allow you to pay inside using the automated machine (located between room 1 and 2). -The coordinator of the jury room will hand out a separate yellow ticket that will reduce the price to the discounted $6 rate. -It's cold in the waiting room. I'm wearing jeans and Polo shirt. Buuurrrrr -I would bring food next time. Perhaps a bag of walnuts, berries, fruit. Vending machine and cafe sells snacks and drinks but at a higher price and might not be as healthy. -Security is just like the airport. Remove shoes and belt! -Bring a phone charger just in case you are here all day. They have some electrical outlet plugs outside the waiting rooms. -Pamphlet says to wear business casual but you don't need to wear slacks or tie. I'm wearing jeans and Polo shirt! Comfort and no need to dry clean or iron. read more

Honestly, not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Here's some bullet points for all my fellow ADD friends: - I waited in line on Congress to try and get into the garage everyone recommends. (1401 Congress) After 25 minutes at 8:05 I gave up. (Must be in by 8:15) Quickly parked in metered parking on Congress and sprinted to the plaza. (Never got a ticket, thankfully) - Wear socks. You have to remove shoes to walk through the metal detector. Eww. - Zero cell service. Strong wifi. Use WhatsApp or iMessage. - After metal detector line (which was actually super short and not packed?) your number is assigned to one of four rooms. Check the whiteboard. - Go pick a seat in your room. Hang out for about 1 hour? Watch cheesy welcome to Jury Duty video. - Another small break. 15 min. - Numbers begin to be called for specific cases. - Go outside with your group when called. A police man will escort you to your courtroom. (Unless you are never called! I was called super quickly in group 3. Most people were assigned to a case... No waiting around for hours and hours.) - Defendant and prosecutor will ask your group multiple questions. Please don't lie just to get out of the case. Imagine if you had a criminal indictment and nobody was willing to give you a fair trial!! Karma, people. Some jurors never make it to this point. A case can be dismissed at any time before or after Voire Dire, in that case you go home. - Bring bottled water and hand sanitizer. - Leave your racism and bias opinions in the trash. read more

I had a very interesting experience at the Harris County District Clerk office when I went in for Jury Duty. I have exempt all other times so this was my first time reporting for Jury Duty. Make sure you park where your Jury Summons tells you to park so you can get the 6 dollar discount rate. If not then you will have to pay $12. When you walk in you basically follow the yellow brick road then pass through metal detectors, and go to the room you are assigned to according to your Juror number. It is pretty routine and it is very organized. Very fast and easy! Make sure you get there on time, because after 15 minutes they will lock the doors. I ended up being exempt, because I live in Fort Bend County. I wish I would of known before going. Oh well over all I had a good experience, and surprisingly the employees were very helpful. Thank Goodness! read more

I have always been a bit annoyed by public buildings. I arrive for jury duty early and they won't let me inside because it is not 7am yet. When this has happened at the library, I can accept that. It's annoying but I can accept it. But at jury duty, I have been summoned and if there are people there, I expect to be let in if I have proper documentation. It just a good customer service policy. That being said, the people were very nice and professional and were following policy. read more

Jury duty is no fun, but at least it is mostly efficient here. Park at 1401 Congress for a discounted rate of $6 and take the elevator down past ground floor to go through a faster security line. Be sure to bring your ticket with you to pay while still in the Juror's Plaza or at least get the discounted ticket from someone if you left your ticket in the car and have to pay at the cashier. Coming from the parking garage tunnel there are more bathrooms and a bigger cafeteria if you take the tunnel to the right before you get to the jury area. Eat breakfast and bring your coffee, plus enough snacks to last all day. Things are fine while you are in the jurors plaza where there is a little snack vendor and vending machines, but if you get selected and taken to the courthouse, you might only get a few short breaks and/or be told to wait on your floor where there are no vending machines. We weren't released until after 2:30 pm and had no lunch break, just a few 10 minute breaks. Bring your electronics charger. There were plenty of outlets in Juror's Plaza, and a few in the tunnels and in the courthouse hallway. Wear comfy shoes. After we were selected to go to court, we stood in line in the tunnels waiting to take the elevators to the criminal court for about 45 mins. There are no chairs or benches in the tunnels. Bring a sweater if you get cold easily. read more

Since this seems to be the place to impart info on jury duty: First of all, you can seemingly bring whatever you want into the jury plaza with you: laptop computer, food, drinks, headphones, whatever. They do scan your bag, and they made me take a sip of my Starbucks but that was it. There is a small cafe in the plaza area, and the prices aren't ridiculous, but of course bringing your own stuff will be cheaper. There's a $3 credit card minimum. The rooms where you sit and wait are auditorium style, with the little fold out lap desks if you want to use them. I recommend taking a seat in the front row, that way if the entire room is released at the same time (as mine was), you can get out quickly and get to the parking garage so you don't get stuck in the traffic of everyone leaving at once. Plus it's easier to get up and go to the bathroom, etc. We ended up sitting in there for almost 3 hours before being released, and for 99% of the time, you have nothing to do, so for goodness' sake, bring SOMETHING to do. For parking, there is only one lane to enter the parking garage off La Branch, and the garage comes up really quickly after the intersection, so it's easiest if you're in the far right lane before you cross Franklin. From the parking garage, there are tons of signs telling you where to go for jury service, so to avoid that confusion alone is worth trying to get there early to get into the 1401 Congress garage. There is a long walk from the parking garage to the jury plaza, so wear comfortable shoes and don't carry too much. (I brought a rolling laptop bag for the day.) read more

HARRIS COUNTY JURY SUMMONS FOR 1201 CONGRESS ST. Going to downtown Houston? Be prepared if you are not familiar with the area. You can websearch on your favorite map site for the address of the new jury plaza which is at 1201 Congress St. The best parking garage is at 1401 Congress. Cost is $6.00 with your jury discount and $8.00 without, as of January 2012. You can pay when you get to the jury plaza and your printed ticket will get you out when you leave. Enter on Austin St. or LaBranch St., just east of Minute Maid Park. Get there early or you will get dizzy going up to the higher floors (just kidding!) You may use the tunnel to get to the plaza (really great in the rain!) or get some fresh air on street level. The plaza entry is a curved-roof glass structure with lots of open space around it. Downstairs are the assembly rooms, cafe, restrooms, information windows, and parking payment machine. County personnel wearing nametags will help guide you. Photos of street-level view are at: https://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/common/juror/Secure/jurorsearch.aspx Additional parking information and another map is at: http://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/common/juror/DowntownMap.aspx I brought the following items, in a briefcase, which were useful: Jury Summons notice (fill out all boxes in bottom part and sign it); Bottle of water; Snack bar & trail mix (NO chocolate); Paper and pens; Reading material; Personal items. You will be going through a metal detector and your carry items will be Xrayed when you enter the tunnel area (garage) or the jury assembly plaza (street). There is a food cafe and vending machines in the jury plaza building. Prices were very reasonable at the cafe. Dress in a respectful manner. Dark slacks and collared shirt or blouse with sleeves is appropriate. You'll be walking a lot so comfortable shoes are recommended. I ended up at the Criminal Court at 1201 Franklin and the trial was for DUI. A jury of 6 was chosen out of 54. We had a lot of overflow jurors because of bad weather in the morning and many were late for the 8:00 reporting time. You could choose being rescheduled for noon or another day. I stayed and we got out around 3:30. When being questioned, you will probably be asked a lot of hypothetical questions, such as "what if the defendant was ... , would you feel ..." so don't be surprized. They want to figure out who you are. Ha! Good luck and have fun! Remember, a juror is the most powerful person in the country, you have the responsibility to make a very important decision. For final reading before you go, check out this: http://famguardian.org/Publications/CitRulebook/rulebook.htm Y'all be good, now, ya hear? -------------- read more

Arrived in the jury duty parking garage on Congress today. I went through the secret entrance (go to the basement in the parking garage via elevator. There is a back jury service entrance) instead of the front building entrance. It saved me about 20 minutes of standing on line in the front. There was no line in the basement. Jury service waiting rooms were freezing so do not wear a dress or skirt if you are a woman. Bring a jacket and something to read or do. The lady sitting next to me was knitting. There is a cafe, two bathrooms, and parking garage payment machine ($6 per day) within a few feet of the jury service waiting rooms. I was released early because the attorney in a DWI case did not pick me because I am a nondrinker. Apparently, not drinking alcohol is a bad thing and you won't be picked to serve on a DWI jury. Please remember where you parked. When you are picked for jury questioning, you are lead through underground tunnels to other courts down the street. I came out of the criminal court when I was done for the day. (Not where I initially arrived). I was disoriented but found my way back to the jury service garage after goggling my location on my phone. read more

Made the attempt to make the jury summons, unfortunately the smart courts schedule this on a Monday, when the traffic is the heaviest and the parking lots are full!! Very smart on them, get jurors to be late so they fine them. Had to reschedule so I try again and have to leave the house 2 hours earlier. read more

The building is new, but they did a poor job of designing the security flow. The lines were so long, but at least they didn't turn people away. As long as you are in the building by your assigned time, they are okay, but really, I don't see how they would know. One nice thing that you don't see very often is that the security guards are actually nice, although it's still early. This first time being called to jury duty and so far the process had not been too terrible. read more

In jury duty today, waiting.. You have to remind yourself it is a civic duty to really be appreciated.

Hi this isn't really a review but more of a question! I just got summon to jury duty in the middle of May.. I've only lived in Houston for a year and I have never adventured down to the jury house. How bad is traffic down by that area? I live roughly 20-30 mins depending on traffic. Im terrified of driving on the highways here so I'm considering taking memorial drive all the way to Texas St, then to crawford st, then over to congress ave so I can park in the parking garage. What time does the building open? I like to arrive to places early that I have never been to and I would hate to arrive late then be told to go home and reschedule my summon. I would really appreciate it if someone can answer my questions :) read more

So this week, I got summoned for jury duty; up to this point, i've been able to weasel my way out of my civic duty being a full-time student or active duty military until now; So parking is on either Austin or LaBranch, just take the little parking slip at the machine, and later they will give you another slip. You will need both slips to pay $6 at the automated machine. Anyway, 1201 Congress is a glass building surrounded by a green park in the middle of downtown. You probably ask yourself 'is this the right place?' but then when you look around you at all the other clueless sad faces holding jury summons notices around you, you realize you're at the right place. If you show up too early, the entrance is still closed, but around 7-7:30 they will let you in and you take an elevator or escalator downstairs and go through airport-like security. If you show up early, it's a breeze, but everyone likes to show up right on time or late and then there's more of a wait. You will see some windows in the lobby where you check in and they will tell you which room(1-4) to go to based on your jury no. on your jury summons. There's even a little place to get coffee or a breakfast sandwich and vending machines if you wish ($3 minimum purchase for credit cards). You'll pretty much be waiting until 11am to see if you are selected for jury duty. They make several rounds of pre-screening selection based on your jury number. Fill in the bottom portion of the jury summons and separate (it's not perforated) it from the top portion and turn it in to the official when directed. I don't know how, but some people still foul this up by turning it in without filling out the bottom portion, or they rip the name off the bottom portion at the wrong place, or they turn in the top portion instead. Bring a book or iPad, because most of the time you're just sitting around waiting and staring at people and their goofy outfits that they chose to wear to jury duty. When they let people go at 11am, it's like the happiest crowd you'll ever see, you'd think everybody's just graduated college or something. Make sure to get a work release to turn in to your employer verifying your excuse from work absence before you leave. Have a great day!!! You will receive a check for $6 in the mail in a few weeks for your troubles. read more

I served two days of jury duty on April 28-29, 2014 in Family Court and I still haven't been paid. I have called three times in the last month and each time the court clerk has a different excuse why I haven't received payment. I used my gas, paid two days of parking, had to buy lunch both days...you would think I could at least get reimbursed for my expenses when just doing my civic duty. No wonder people don't show up for jury duty. read more

So I heard the new building is pretty nice to what it was four years ago. There is free wi-fi and the rooms were clean. The bathrooms are small though, so the key is to time your trip to the restroom to avoid the rush. This was my first time ever going to jury duty. I parked on 1401 Congress Ave in the parking garage and took the elevator to the basement where there is an underground tunnel going to 1201 Congress Ave. After reaching, I went in my assigned room, and waited. At 7:45AM a court member took the jury duty slips from everyone, and he came two more times after that. Once that was completed, I was there during Jury Appreciation week so we had Adrian Garcia come in and talk about how awesome jury duty is and how we are the ones that control the faith of the people on trial. After that you watch a video of the exemptions that are allowed to be taken to be excused from jury duty. (these are listed on the jury summons already). Then the court member came back in to give everyone an oath. I waited 20 minutes and one batch of jurors when. Another 45 minutes later, I was in the next batch. So it was 10:45AM when we went outside the court room and lined up. We waited 20 minutes and the first trial was resetted IE a settlement was made. Then we moved again. At about 11:15AM we lined up again and went in for jury selection on a case. This is the sad part, most of us wanted a lunch break at that point. NOP! We got a ten minute break and were told do not go down the elevators to get a snack as you will be late coming back in. GREAT! So no lunch, and by the time they dismissed us it was 2:30PM!!! I thought courts were required to give a LUNCH BREAK! What ever happened to that. I was so tired by the end due to the lack of not getting to eat lunch and listening to two attorney's that were not that good at all. The judge however was by far the most awesome judge I have seen! My thoughts: go and get the jury over with. It is as painful as people say it is. read more

Parking space at 1401 Congress St at Downtown is great one. In the past I can not find a closer parking garage and had to spend $25 on parking for Jury Duty. In July 2016, I finally found this parking lot. It was so nice closer by and inexpensive charge rate. read more