For a first arrest in Miami-Dade, pretrial diversion is often the best outcome on the table. Complete it and the State drops the charge. But the rules, deadlines, and paperwork are nothing like Broward's.
If you were arrested in Miami-Dade and someone told you there's a program that makes the case go away, they're talking about pretrial diversion. PTD, most people call it.
It's real, and for a first arrest it's often the best outcome on the table. Complete it and the State drops the charge.
Here's what trips people up. If you or a family member has dealt with a case in Broward, throw out what you learned. The counties run these programs differently enough that advice from one is close to useless in the other. Different name, different supervisor, different deadlines, different rules about what your lawyer can do while you're waiting.
Pretrial diversion, or PTD, is an alternative to prosecution offered by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. It covers both misdemeanor and felony cases and is aimed at defendants with nonviolent histories. You enter voluntarily and agree to conditions, which can include classes, community service, and restitution. Compliance is monitored by a private provider, either The Advocate Program or Court Options, rather than by the State directly. If you complete every condition and stay arrest-free while you're in the program, the State Attorney's Office drops the charges. Diversion in Florida is authorized under Florida Statute § 948.08.
First-time offenders, generally, on both felony and misdemeanor charges. That's the starting point.
The State Attorney's Office describes the program as serving defendants with nonviolent priors. What it doesn't publish is a list of excluded charges, the way Broward does. There's no public chart to check yourself against.
So eligibility is a question you ask, not one you look up. Your attorney contacts the prosecutor assigned to your case and asks directly whether you're a candidate. Each division has a specific ASA handling it, and the answer comes back case by case based on your record and the facts of the arrest.
That's worth sitting with. Two people with the same charge can get different answers in different divisions.
This is the mechanical part, and it's where cases fall apart for no good reason.
Felony PTD runs on a referral form. Once the State agrees you're a candidate, that form gets filled out. If there's a victim in your case, the victim has to check off their agreement on it. You take the form yourself.
Then the clock starts. You have 72 hours from the referral date to sign up with the Advocate Program, either online or in person.
Seventy-two hours. Not a week, not until your next court date. I've seen people clear every hard part of this process, get the approval, and then lose it because nobody told them the form had an expiration on it. Handle that before anything else.
Not the way there are in Broward, where a felony PTI application has to be in within 45 days of arraignment or it's over.
Miami-Dade typically doesn't work on an application deadline like that. What it does have is a cutoff on the back end. The court will set a date, often around a week before trial, by which diversion has to be accepted. That applies on the misdemeanor side and, for the most part, on felonies too.
The practical effect is that you have more room than you would in Broward, but the room isn't unlimited, and the closer you get to trial the more the answer hardens. Waiting doesn't make a prosecutor more generous.
In Broward, yes, and severely. Taking depositions or having substantive motions heard disqualifies you from felony PTI there outright, which forces a hard early choice between litigating and diverting.
Miami-Dade is not that strict. Prosecutors in the 11th generally don't hold a discovery request against you when they're weighing diversion.
That difference is bigger than it sounds. It means in Miami-Dade you can often do the ordinary work of defending a case, request discovery, look at what the State actually has, and still keep diversion on the table. In Broward that same work can foreclose it.
I practiced at the Public Defender's Office in Broward and later at a defense firm in Miami, and this is one of the clearest lines between the two circuits. It's also why a lawyer who only works one county can give you confidently wrong advice about the other.
Yes, and it's built into the paperwork. On the felony referral form, the victim indicates whether they agree.
Victim input carries real weight in whether PTD gets offered at all. If you're facing a theft or property charge where someone lost money, what that person tells the State Attorney's Office matters, and restitution handled early changes that conversation.
You may still have a path, and this is another place where Miami-Dade and Broward part ways.
In Miami-Dade felony cases, $5,000 works as a threshold rather than a wall. If the restitution owed on your case is higher than that, you generally have to pay the balance down to $5,000 before you can enter the program. Once you're at or under that figure, diversion comes back into play. There are exceptions, but paying down to the threshold is the ordinary route.
Know this early. It turns an eligibility question into a question about money and timing, which is a different problem to solve, and it means the real restitution figure on your case matters more than most people realize at the start.
PTD isn't the only route. If it doesn't fit, something else might. The State Attorney's Office lists its diversion programs here; these are the ones that come up most:
Your case continues on the regular track and gets defended.
Denials are usually final. There's no formal appeal and no realistic second application, which means the first ask has to be the strong one. Treatment already underway, steady work, restitution paid, a clear picture of who you are outside of this arrest: that goes to the prosecutor before a decision, not after.
If diversion is off the table, that's the point where the felony defense work starts in earnest, and in Miami-Dade you haven't given up your ability to litigate by having asked.
Mostly geography. Miami-Dade uses pretrial diversion, or PTD, covering both misdemeanors and felonies. Broward calls its felony program pretrial intervention, or PTI, and runs it through the Department of Corrections with a hard 45-day filing deadline. The programs work toward the same result, a dismissal, but the eligibility rules, deadlines, and supervision are not interchangeable between the two counties.
A private provider, either The Advocate Program or Court Options, rather than a probation officer employed by the State. They track your classes, community service, and other conditions and report compliance back to the State Attorney's Office. Felony referrals come through Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation's Pretrial Services Division before landing with the provider.
Entry is voluntary and involves signing an agreement with conditions, not a plea in the ordinary sense. What that agreement requires varies with the case and the charge, so read it with your attorney before you sign anything. Ask specifically what happens if you don't complete the program, because that's the term that matters most.
It depends on the charge and the conditions. Misdemeanor programs generally run shorter than felony ones, and felony diversion often includes restitution, which can extend things if a balance is still owed. Ask about the expected length and the total cost at the outset rather than after you've enrolled.
Sometimes. The program is aimed at people with nonviolent histories, and one old, minor prior doesn't automatically end the conversation. It's decided case by case by the prosecutor in your division, which is exactly why the question gets asked directly rather than guessed at.
Take it to the Advocate Program and sign up within 72 hours of the referral date, online or in person. Don't wait for your next court date and don't leave it in a drawer. Make sure the victim portion is completed if your case has one, and confirm with your attorney that the form is filled out correctly before you go.
This page is general information about Miami-Dade County procedure, not legal advice about your case. Every case turns on its own facts, and nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship.
Your first case strategy session is free and completely confidential. Attorney Tyler Williams answers personally, 24/7.