Harris County District Clerk

Never enjoying jury duty, it turned out to be a decent experience. I have to drive 30+miles, so fighting traffic early on a weekday was not fun, especially when they closed the 45 because of an accident. Parking was easy, although I found the garage entry for jury parking isn’t on Congress – it’s actually off of the street that runs behind the building. Its a fairly long walk from the parking garage (take the elevator to the basement, then follow the signs thru the tunnel). Security was a pain – think airport TSA, but friendly and helpful. The process was well organized and the bailiffs/​employees told us what to do, gave us regular breaks and timelines. The room wasn’t cold as many have noted, but I took a coat to be safe. We were released before 1100, so it wasn’t a bad day at all.

The process for Jury selection went very smoothly. All personnel were professional and courteous. The balliffs were in a very good mood and it helped the day seem not so dreary. They moved us from the jury selection room into a second room where they passed out our juror numbers. (In the old building they used to take us to the basement to line up and it took 30 min to an hour). Then they moved is up to the judges courtroom and lined us up by juror number. The main Bailiff was very organized and put us by juror number so each person knew exactly where to sit when they entered the courtroom.
It was very well organized. Down stairs from The assigned parking garage was the security check point and then you go thru tunnels to the jury selection room. At the end of the day it was easy to find my way back to the parking garage.
Make sure and park at 1401 Congress and take your parking ticket with you for jury duty. There is a machine outside the jury selection room where u can pay $ 6 for parking, instead of the regular $ 8 charge.

Looking for parking and I will pay extra… drive a nice car… and do not want door dings… anyone know a close garage or what would someone recommend?

I must admit that as a customer of the Harris County Criminal Court, your rating of this establishment will vary considerably depending on the role you are in during your visit. While my tenure in the jury pool was short and relatively pleasant, the other customer who was charged with the crime didn’t seem to be having a good day.
The wheels of justice in the state of Texas seem to be fairly efficient. Your service requirement is fairly short – a half a day. I was whisked up with the other 100 people in the pool for the courtroom (it’s never good when they take that many – it means it’s a big, likely violent, crime and the attorneys are going to knock a lot of people out at jury selection). I had the distinction of being selected, and was treated like royalty. They even gave us a comfortable private room to relax in during off hours.
Normally I don’t mention competing businesses in a review, but let me tell you Harris county residents, try sitting for the standard 8-​day obligation (assuming you aren’t selected) on the jury pool in the basement of the Orleans Parish Criminal Court and you’ll be giving this place 4-​stars, too.

This building has to be at least 60 years old, the ceilings have stained black vents, a lot of vents without covers and wires hanging from them. This place is perfect for a horror movie.
Since when do you have to take your shoes off before walking thru the medal detecter; are we taking flight? I wonder if legal counsel has to adhere to such things? Not. The women’s restrooms are antiquated. The walls are dingy looking thru out the entire building. Less not forget the trail of black ants along the wall floor & wall. I gave it two stars because I appreciate their antique benches inside the court room.

I needed to get a certified copy of a public record from the Harris County District Clerk. There are 8 locations, but I chose this one. I ended up going to the probate office of the 8^th floor to get my certified copy.
It was super empty, and I went at 11am on a Friday. There was only 1 person in line, and it took about 5 minutes total. After waiting in line, I just walked up to a clerk and told them what I needed. She found the file on her computer, printed it out, stamped it, took my payment, and gave me the copies.
It was $ 1 per page, plus $ 5 for the certification. They accept cash, check, and credit card.
Everyone in the building was super nice and chill. I think it’s because the building is so nice and new. There is plenty of room on the floors, and I actually didn’t see too many people there.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner…
I won the lottery –lol, which is what the judge said right before I was picked out of 24 people to sit on a jury… yay.
The jury assembly room is a series of rooms filled with potential jurors. You can bring your laptop if you get bored (and the wait ranges, I was there 2 hours before they called my series of numbers). And depending on how many trials are happening that day is how many jury pools they will call.
Make sure to bring your jury summons and have the bottom portion filled out. If you park in 1401 Franklin, they give you a discount ticket. (the parking ticket is yellow). There are vending machines and a little window that apparently sells food (I saw it as we were leaving).
Overall, it wasn’t as horrible as people paint it out to be and ultimately I believe in doing your civil service so …

There is not a more depressing place in all of Houston than this ex-​jailhouse turned Sheriff’s office.
I went for a meeting and had to wait in the «lobby» for about 45 minutes before someone came and rescued me. The concrete walls feel like you’re in prison (which you technically are). The parking around the area is horrible. If you are lucky enough to beat all the court folks, then you might find a meter. Otherwise, you gotta spring for the LAZ parking, which is expensive (especially if you’re only there for an hour or so).
Bottom line… avoid this place at all costs. Tell the Sheriff to meet you at your damn office!!! After all, he is an elected official!!!

I guess jury duty in Texas is not as bad as in NY. The District Clerk came down from his office to speak with the jurors. He let us know how much we are appreciated. He also reminded us that our being there helps citizens get their constitutional right to a jury trial. He was very funny. I was there for a few hours, but it really didn’t seem so long.
They have free wi-​fi, and yes, you can take your laptop! I would recommend you park in the garage that’s next to the building, since it is only $ 5.50 for jurors. Also, pay for your parking as soon as you can because that line gets really long! I would say over all a great experience. Would I do it again?! Of course… I don’t want to go to jail! lol!

Worst movie theater ever! Metal detectors at the door, charge for parking in their garage ($ 5.50 all day), and the seats didn’t all face the same direction. To top it all off, we only had one showtime: 8 AM. (That’s morning, mind you.)
In all seriousness, this was a packed room holding about 500 people in order to field enough jury panels so that the wheels of justice can turn. Free wi-​fi. This was my fourth time in 5 years to be summoned — yet the first time since I’ve joined Unilocal.
I’ve learned that the jury duty pool is not the same pool as «America’s Sexiest Citizens» would be picked from. Let me put it in perspective: They made me look hot. Really hot. Lots of sloppy and overweight people here. No judgments (okay, just a little), just facts. The dude who sat next to me for the general session was a little ripe. I was glad he found another seat after he ran to feed the meter during the break.
Around 930 AM, when the «Jury Lottery» numbers were being put up on the board, I quietly cheered since I had a high number — but, that hope was dashed when I was swept up in one of the last panels. Thirty-​four of us were taken to the Civil Courthouse for voir dire. I’m glad we weren’t going to the criminal courthouse.*
Each side presented its set of general questions with a few individual questions thrown in. I could tell that those that were piping up were on a fast-​track to getting barred from the final jury. A quick mental calculus said that if all of the «strikes» by both sides took out the max, I’d still be safe from being picked. I was Juror 31 out of the panel of 34. But, I also prepped a backup opinion, just in case: «All corporations are inherently evil. (add Dr. Evil laugh)»
During a 20-​minute break, the attorneys called in 3 panel members for further interrogation. Afterwards, we filed back into the courtroom and the court clerk read out the names. Everyone on the front row who said nothing got picked; everyone who spoke up during voir dire was passed over. Just goes to show that mouthing off can get you booted out of jury duty as well as out of other «respectable» places.
For a horrible movie theater, this place does put on a pretty good parade of humanity, though. Just skip the popcorn.
* This case was someone suing a large national grocery chain for food poisoning by potato salad. My other panel was a capital murder case. Want to know the tipoff of a big case? When they hand you a 20-​page questionnaire, it’s going to be big.