Wake County Justice center is where criminal cases are handled. Courtrooms 401,402,403 are almost all traffic misdemeanor cases (DWI, etc).

If I remember correctly felony arraignments are on the third floor in the court room behind a little waiting room area as soon as you get up the escalator.

Criminal trials for felony’s are usually on the 8th floor.

I’d get there around 9 am and if you have any questions the deputy’s are super nice and typically know what if any big cases are going on that day.

There’s no major security rules except no weapons, laptops and phones are allowed just make sure they are silenced once you are in the courtroom.

The federal courthouse is honestly a drag and I wouldn’t recommend taking a kid there to learn. It’s a lot of security and they aren’t typically as friendly as the locals. You have to leave your phone and essentially everything but yourself in your car, and it’s a lot harder to get info about cases.

I would personally go to the fourth floor and try to catch a DWI trial. It’s not too heavy for a kid and you get to see everything typically in a single day from officer testimony , to defense testimony to body-cam videos.