Brevard Juvenile Detention Center

For minor offenses, officers from Melbourne, Cocoa Beach and other Brevard cities, plus sheriff’s deputies, can issue a notice to appear rather than arrest you. You then come to court on the date given. People booked at the Camp Road jail have first appearance in a courtroom inside the jail itself, held weekday afternoons and weekend mornings, and the Sheriff streams these hearings online. Florida requires this hearing within 24 hours of arrest. Until then, the Camp Road jail uses the 2026 uniform bond schedule adopted by the Florida Supreme Court, which sets a minimum per charge. Posting a bond means leaving money or a guarantee with the court so you’ll keep coming back. In Brevard, some charges carry no bond until a judge looks at them. Bondsmen around Cocoa and Viera, licensed by the state, charge a 10% premium on a state bond to post it for you.

The elected State Attorney of the Eighteenth Circuit prosecutes all state crimes in Brevard and Seminole. The elected Eighteenth Circuit Public Defender, whose Brevard office is on Judge Fran Jamieson Way, steps in for Brevard defendants who are too poor to hire counsel. A conflict, like representing two people charged in the same crime, can send one defendant to Florida’s regional conflict counsel or to a court-appointed private lawyer. Section 938.29 of Florida law lets the judge order a convicted person to pay for the appointed lawyer, which may become a lien.

In Brevard County Court, the harshest sentence on a first-degree misdemeanor is 12 months at Camp Road plus $1,000; a second-degree misdemeanor stops at 60 days plus $500. The State Attorney runs pretrial diversion for some first-time offenders, letting them earn a dismissal. Florida’s speedy trial rule requires a misdemeanor trial inside 90 days of formal charging, and only the defense can give that up. A jury of six decides.

For kids: Anyone under 18 is handled in the juvenile division of Brevard Circuit Court. Officers can give a civil citation (Section 985.12) for many first-time minor offenses, which means the youth does community service or other tasks and avoids an arrest record. Any Brevard child kept locked up sees a judge at a detention hearing within 24 hours; there, the judge weighs whether going home is safe.

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A Brevard felony starts at first appearance inside the jail, where the judge looks for probable cause and sets release terms. The State Attorney’s office in Viera then files a formal charge, called an information, or decides not to. At arraignment, the defendant pleads. Pretrial hearings and evidence sharing follow at the Moore Justice Center.

Felonies in Florida have three main degrees. Third-degree felonies, like most grand thefts or fleeing police in a car, have a maximum of 5 years in prison. A home burglary is usually second degree, maximum 15 years. First-degree felonies have a maximum of 30. Fentanyl and other drug trafficking charges also bring mandatory minimum terms. Viera judges use a Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet, totaling points to set the lowest sentence the judge can give without special reasons. Florida’s rule is that prisoners serve at least 85% of their sentence. Brevard also uses probation, drug court and veterans court.

Brevard prosecutors have 175 days from formal charging to try a felony, a deadline the defense frequently waives. Non-capital felony juries in Florida have six members.

For kids: Teens held on felonies stay at the Brevard Juvenile Detention Center on DeWitt Avenue in Cocoa, operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice. The Eighteenth Circuit State Attorney can direct file under Section 985.557, moving a 16- or 17-year-old’s felony into adult court; with 14- and 15-year-olds, only specific grave felonies qualify. Since 2019, Florida law has left that choice to prosecutors.

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Violent felony cases in Brevard follow the same order but carry heavier risks. After a pretrial detention hearing, a Brevard judge may refuse bond entirely. Under 10-20-Life, Section 775.087, guns raise the floor on listed felonies: carrying one means a 10-year minimum, firing one means 20, and a shot that kills or maims someone means at least 25 and possibly life. A life felony, which covers some sexual battery charges, can bring life in prison.

In Brevard, a capital felony, mainly first-degree murder, carries death or life without parole after a conviction. These cases need a grand jury indictment and a 12-member trial jury. Since 2023, Florida law allows a death sentence when at least 8 of the 12 jurors recommend it. Condemned men live on Union Correctional Institution’s death row near Raiford; condemned women live at Lowell.

Brevard crime victims are covered by Marsy’s Law, Florida Constitution Article I, Section 16(b). They can be informed of court events, be present, and be heard by the judge at key moments like plea deals and sentencing. Victim advocates with the State Attorney’s office offer help.

For kids: Section 985.56 permits a Brevard grand jury to indict a child at any age, with adult trial, if the charge could mean death or life. Execution, however, is never allowed for a crime someone committed while still under 18 in Brevard or elsewhere.

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Brevard's Sheriff's Office keeps an offender and warrant search built from its warrant file, and the agency answers at (321) 264-5100. Eighteenth Circuit cases, plus any capias, show in the clerk's General Public Case Search. The usual fix is a planned surrender at the Camp Road complex in Cocoa alongside a lawyer, who can also ask the judge to withdraw it. Rescheduling runs through the clerk's criminal office at the Moore Justice Center in Viera. FDLE adds a statewide wanted persons lookup for warrants published by other agencies.

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