The Miami-Dade County Grand Jury serves a very special function in Florida’s criminal courts.  The only charge a State Attorney cannot file based on his or her constitutional authority is first degree murder.  All first degree murder cases must be presented to a grand jury.  In this section you will read an overview of the Miami-Dade County Grand Jury and how it functions to administer justice in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit.

The Miami-Dade County Grand Jury is an investigating, reporting, and accusing agency of the circuit court. It consists of 21 citizens who have been summoned and empaneled by a judge of the circuit court. The Grand Jury is an agency and an arm of the circuit court and is uniquely independent.

The Miami-Dade County Grand Jury is answerable to no person or agency of government except the court that empanels it and, even then, only to the extent that it may exceed its authority and privileges.