Downtown Miami civil courthouse ‘temporarily evacuated’ after building inspection

Miami-Dade County’s troubled civil courthouse was closed Friday after concerns surfaced from a structural and safety inspection commissioned in the wake of the Surfside condominium collapse.

A Friday court filing described the 1928 courthouse as “temporarily evacuated” and an administrative notice said the closure followed a recent inspection. After the report was delivered Friday, a closure order was issued for floors 16 and above.

Miami-Dade years behind on structural repairs at courthouse that was evacuated on Friday

The reason for the closure was not stated in the note. The notice from Chief Judge Nushin Sayfie stated: “In an abundance of caution, we are going to evacuate all personnel.”

“I know this is surprising and unsettling,” Sayfie wrote to court staff. “I promise you will get information as soon as we have it.”

Harvey Ruvin, the county’s elected court clerk, said he was in his office in the courthouse Friday. He got news of the emergency closure shortly after 5 p.m. and said that his staff was preparing to shift operations out of the building. “There is a plan in place,” he said.

Ruvin said he had a call with Sayfie, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the head of the county’s property arm, Alex Muñoz, shortly before 9 p.m. He said the engineering report that prompted the closure came from the county, and that Sayfie decided to clear out the building until more information is available.

“I think she made the right decision,” he said.

The clerks staff only returned to in-person work at the courthouse on July 1, after more than a year working remotely during the COVID pandemic. Ruvin said the plan is to revert back to the remote operation. “We are going back to where we were,” he said.

The safety of the courthouse, which once housed a trial for Al Capone, has been a complaint from judges and lawyers for years. Miami-Dade is in the process of building a replacement, with plans to sell the historic structure. County administrators have consistently declared the building safe after spot repairs to deal with exterior facades, leaks, moldy courtrooms and other issues.

In a press release issued late Friday, the county did not specify that nature of the “safety concerns” but said repair work will “begin immediately.” “The basement area is also undergoing further inspection for any additional necessary repairs,” the release said.

“All court business at the Dade County Courthouse will be conducted remotely, and judges and court staff based at the Dade County Courthouse will be working remotely starting Monday, July 12, until further notice,” the release said.

All in-person court hearings will be re-scheduled with “instructions for remote access,” the release said.

The closing of the civil courthouse comes at a challenging time for Miami-Dade’s justice system. The global pandemic had largely shuttered the courts to the public for 15 months, with most trials suspended and most hearings taking place on Zoom.

The closures had led to a backlog of cases. Limited jury trials began in March. But it was not until June 28, as COVID-19 cases fell because of vaccines, that courthouses across Miami-Dade opened back up to the public.

Miami-Dade’s civil courts system is also now the setting for the biggest story in Florida - the deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside.

The first several hearings had been held on Zoom, but Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman held the first in-person hearing inside the building’s historic sixth-floor courtroom on Wednesday.

He had ordered weekly hearings in what will be a complicated class-action lawsuit featuring large numbers of lawyers and plaintiffs. It was unclear Friday if the hearings would be moved to another building, or resume via Zoom.

The closure should not affect the Miami-Dade grand jury, which is exploring building safety issues raised by the condo collapse. The civil courthouse used to be the setting for the grand jury. But since the pandemic, proceedings have been moved to the newer Miami-Dade Children’s Courthouse, which is more spacious and allows for greater social distancing