In 1890, Dade County's first courthouse stood in the town of Juno, Florida some 10 mi (16 km) north of West Palm Beach.

Engineers consulted with an architect from Mexico City, whom had encountered a similar problem while building the Palacio de Bellas Artes opera house.

The jail occupied the top nine floors as it was thought that prisoners would not risk escaping from such a height, either directly down or through multiple guarded staircases and elevators.

This theory was disproven in 1934, when a 21st floor prisoner picked the lock of his jail cell window and used a fire hose to lower himself to freedom.

In 1982, the idea of restoring the lobby to its original distinction was the passion of both Architect James Piersol and engineer Don Youatt, of the Miami-Dade Planning and Development Department.

With a little less than half of the funding necessary for the lobby restoration project in hand ($300,000 grant approved by the Legislature in 1996), the Dade County Bar Association acted as the fund-raising umbrella and initiated a drive to raise the remainder needed from lawyers and the general public.

Today, the courthouse provides offices, chambers, and courtrooms for the clerks and judiciary assigned to both the Circuit and County Civil Court.

On July 9, 2021, the courthouse was closed down after an engineer reported "safety concerns with various floors", and staff members were directed to work remotely.

In the years prior to the closure, the structural safety of the courthouse building had been the center of complaints by resident judges and lawyers, even as county administrators consistently declared it safe following various "spot repairs".