Your Journey as an
Assistant State Attorney
Assistant State Attorney
Are you ready to serve?
Miami SAO nurtures and supports you on your journey to service excellence.
Each new Attorney enters a four- to six-week training program supervised by our full-time Training Officers. The training program consists primarily of lectures and workshops. Each Legal Trainee is given a comprehensive training manual which contains the subject material and case law that they are expected to master. The Trainees complete their training by working closely with an experienced prosecutor.
First Assignment: County Court
Next Assignment:
Juvenile Court
Promotion to
Felony Division
Richard E. Gerstein Building
After completing the training program, new Assistant State Attorneys (ASAs) are assigned to County Court, in either the DUI/Crimes Division or the Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Division. While in County Court, ASAs have the opportunity to fully participate in jury trials, non-jury trials, evidentiary hearings and plea negotiations on misdemeanor offenses. Once the assignment to County Court has been completed, attorneys are promoted to the Juvenile Division.
Miami-Dade County Children's Courthouse
In the Juvenile Division, ASAs prosecute various felony and misdemeanor cases. While serving in the Juvenile Division, ASAs will learn the elements of the various felony charges they will prosecute once they are promoted to the Felony Division. Â Although only bench (non-jury) trials are held in the Juvenile Division, there, ASAs get the opportunity to hone their trial and advocacy skills.
After completing rotations in the County Court and Juvenile Division, attorneys are promoted to the Felony Division.
- There are presently 21 general Trial Divisions in the Criminal Felony Unit. Each Felony Trial Division is presided over by a circuit court judge and is staffed by âAâ, âBâ and âCâ level prosecutors who are supervised by a Felony Division Chief.
- Each ASA promoted from the Juvenile Division enters the felony division as a âCâ level prosecutor. With experience, ASAs are promoted to âBâ level and then âAâ level felony positions. With each promotion, the ASAs are assigned more complexed cases.
- After obtaining sufficient experience in the Felony Division, ASAs are eligible to apply for openings in our Specialized Felony Units. Miami SAO offers a number of diverse specialized prosecution units including: Career Criminal, Human Trafficking,  Gangs, Domestic Violence, Sexual Battery/Child Abuse, Insurance Fraud, Public Corruption, and Gun Violence.