To get a Texas crash report, buy the officer’s report (the CR-3) through the Texas Department of Transportation’s online purchase portal, or request it from the agency that investigated. A regular copy is $6 and a certified copy $8 on TxDOT’s list. The full report goes only to people with a direct interest; anyone else can request a redacted copy.
The short version
- Two main routes. Buy it from TxDOT’s Crash Report Online Purchase System, which emails it, or ask the investigating agency; for a Houston Police Department crash that is HPD’s Records Division.
- The fee is set by statute. Transportation Code § 550.065(d) sets $6 a copy and $2 more for certification; TxDOT’s page shows $6 and $8, plus a surcharge online.
- The officer sets the first clock. The report must be filed with TxDOT by the 10th day after the collision (§ 550.062(b)); HPD says its reports take five to eight days to process.
- Not everyone gets the full report. Drivers, damaged-property owners, insurers, authorized representatives and others the statute lists do; everyone else can get a redacted copy.
- Read it for errors. A crash report is evidence, not a ruling on fault, and a mistake is fixed by a written supplement.
Who can get a Texas crash report?
Anyone directly concerned in the collision or with a proper interest in it can get the full report by written request and payment of the fee. The statute names drivers, owners of damaged vehicles or property, their insurers, authorized representatives, people who may sue over a death, and licensed broadcasters and qualifying newspapers. Everyone else is limited to a redacted copy.
Under section 550.065 of the Transportation Code, the information in an officer’s collision report is confidential for most purposes, but subsection (c)(4) requires release to people with a direct stake. The list covers any person involved, a driver’s employer, parent or legal guardian, the owner of a damaged vehicle or property, a person who has established financial responsibility for a vehicle in the collision, the insurers covering a vehicle or a person involved, and a person who may sue because the collision caused a death (Transportation Code ch. 550, read 16 October 2026).
The authorized representative of a person involved is on the list too, so a lawyer you authorize to act for you may be able to request the report. A family member who may sue because of a death falls within the death category; see our pages on Houston wrongful death claims and fatal car accident cases.
A person outside the list is not shut out. Subsection (c-1) has the agency prepare a redacted report that any person may request, and subsection (f)(2) says the redaction removes names, driver’s license numbers, birth dates other than the year, addresses other than the zip code, telephone numbers and license plate numbers, among other items. TxDOT’s page says those who do not meet its criteria “will receive a redacted copy” (TxDOT, Crash reports and records, read 16 October 2026).
How do you buy a crash report from TxDOT?
Use TxDOT’s Crash Report Online Purchase System: pay, and receive the report by email. The page prices a regular copy at $6 and a certified copy at $8, and says credit-card payments may carry extra processing fees. The general public cannot view crash reports online.
TxDOT’s page says customers of the online system get the report by email after purchase and pay a minimal surcharge for the service. It cannot fill bulk requests, because the Transportation Code requires each crash record to be purchased, and it keeps records for the previous ten full calendar years plus the current one.
Which copy should you order? TxDOT says a certified copy is for someone who needs an official document, such as for a legal proceeding. A plain copy may serve a claim handled under Texas auto accident rules; if a court may need it, the extra $2 buys certification. The statute also lets an agency certify that no report is on file, for $6 (§ 550.065(d)), which helps if you were told a report exists and cannot find it.
How do you get a Houston Police Department crash report?
Buy it online through TxDOT’s system, mail HPD’s Records Division a $6 check or money order with a stamped return envelope and the completed H.B. 2633 form, or go to 1200 Travis Street. HPD says you must give at least two of three identifiers: the accident date, its location, and a driver’s or party’s name.
HPD’s public information page describes the crash report as the Texas Peace Officers’ accident report, filled out by a Houston officer and filed with TxDOT, and says the reports “require 5 to 8 days processing time” before the public can get them (Houston Police Department, public information requests, read 16 October 2026). Questions go to the Records Division at 713-308-8500, option 3.
HPD adds that full copies can be bought only in person or by mail with the H.B. 2633 form, and that an online purchase must meet the H.B. 2633 requirements by questionnaire, under penalty of perjury. The form’s name matches H.B. 2633 (2015), an act the statute’s own history lists among the amendments to section 550.065.
| Method | What you provide | Cost stated by the source |
|---|---|---|
| Online, TxDOT system | TxDOT’s online purchase form; HPD describes a questionnaire for the H.B. 2633 requirements | $6 regular, $8 certified, plus a surcharge (TxDOT) |
| By mail to HPD Records, 1200 Travis, Houston 77002 | Request, self-addressed stamped envelope, completed H.B. 2633 form | $6.00 check or money order payable to the City of Houston (HPD) |
| In person, Edward A. Thomas Building, first floor | The H.B. 2633 form and at least two identifiers | HPD’s page states no separate in-person price |
| Questions | Records Division, 713-308-8500, option 3 | None stated |
Sources read 16 October 2026: HPD’s public information page and TxDOT’s crash reports page, both linked above; the statutory fee is in Transportation Code § 550.065(d).
What if a different agency investigated your crash?
Search TxDOT’s statewide system first, because it holds reports from Texas law enforcement agencies for crashes on public roads, or ask the agency that responded. A crash on a freeway outside the city limits, or in a neighboring city, may not have been written up by HPD at all.
TxDOT’s page says it collects crash reports from Texas law enforcement agencies for crashes on public roadways and the state highway system, which makes its online system the one place to look whatever agency responded. HPD’s page speaks only for reports its own officers wrote.
Our Bellaire article on car accidents and personal injury lawyers in Bellaire covers that city’s police department, and our piece on why witnesses matter sets the Sugar Land and Houston request rules side by side. Readers in Missouri City and Richmond or Pearland and Friendswood have their own guides.
TxDOT holds the crash report only; dash-camera video, field notes and scene photographs are requested from the investigating agency, which is one reason your own scene photos matter.
How long does it take to get a crash report?
The officer has until the 10th day after the collision to file the report with TxDOT, and the Houston Police Department says release follows five to eight days of processing. TxDOT’s page states no fixed turnaround for ordinary purchases, so treat any timeline as a range, not a promise.
The deadline in section 550.062(b) is the officer’s: electronic filing with TxDOT by the 10th day after the collision. Chapter 550 sets no deadline for releasing the report once you ask.
If the report is not there when you expect it, call the records unit of the agency that handled the crash, give the date and location, and ask whether it has been filed. Our hit-and-run guide covers the police report and insurance steps when the other driver is unknown.
What does a Texas crash report contain?
The CR-3 records the people and vehicles involved, the conditions and the officer’s account. The statute’s list of items withheld from redacted copies shows what a full report holds: names, license numbers, insurer names and policy numbers, plates, where injured people were taken, and when the officer was notified and arrived.
The statute says the form used by an investigating officer must collect enough detail to disclose the cause and conditions of the collision and the persons and vehicles involved (§ 550.064(b)(1)). For a vehicle combination running under a permit, the report must include its weight and number of axles (§ 550.062(b-1)). The clearest inventory is the redaction list in § 550.065(f)(2): the insurer listed as providing financial responsibility, the policy number, the dates the officer was notified and arrived, the officer’s badge or identification number, the date of any death, the date of any commercial motor vehicle report, and the place where an injured or killed person was taken.
The personal data in a report is also why access is controlled. FOX 26 Houston reported on 3 July 2025 that TxDOT found unusual activity in its Crash Records Information System on May 12 and traced it to a compromised account that downloaded nearly 300,000 crash reports, with the exposed fields including names, addresses, driver license numbers, plate numbers and insurance policy numbers (FOX 26 Houston, 3 July 2025).
The insurer entry tells you where to send notice. In a truck or 18-wheeler crash the commercial-vehicle entries matter, and our articles on the evidence a trucking claim turns on and liability in a truck crash explain how a trucking claim can reach more than one defendant.
What if there is no crash report, or it has a mistake?
An officer who investigates must write a report when the collision injured or killed someone, or damaged one person’s property by an apparent $1,000 or more. Below that threshold the statute does not require one, so there may be no report. Only the officer can change a material fact, but anyone can add a written supplement that names its author.
Section 550.062(a) requires a report when an officer investigates in the regular course of duty and the collision hurt or killed a person or caused apparent damage of $1,000 or more to one person’s property. If no officer came, the record is yours to build. TxDOT’s page explains that the driver’s own report, Form CR-2, is no longer retained: the agency stopped keeping it effective September 1, 2017, and no driver’s crash reports remain in its custody as of January 1, 2019. Keep any CR-2 or local form you were handed. Photographs and the other driver’s details fill the gap; see our steps after a car accident.
Corrections follow section 550.068. A change that alters a material fact in an officer’s report may be made only by that officer, unless it is made as a written supplement that clearly names the person who originated it. If the report lists the wrong vehicle or omits a witness, ask the agency how it takes a supplement. A disagreement about fault is different: the officer’s conclusion does not decide the claim, and Texas reduces or bars recovery by a person’s percentage of responsibility, a rule we explain in our article on comparative negligence.
What should you do with the crash report once you have it?
Check every name, vehicle, insurer, location and contributing factor, then give a copy to your attorney and your own insurer before you discuss fault with anyone else. The report is evidence, not a final finding, and the time to file an injury suit runs from when the claim accrues, not from the day the report arrives.
Read the narrative and diagram first, then the other driver’s insurance entry; our article on tactics insurers may use shows why the details matter. If an adjuster calls, read what to know before you speak to the adjuster and whether you must share medical records. If the other driver has no coverage, the report supplies details for an uninsured or underinsured motorist claim on your own policy, and our page on hit-and-run accidents covers a driver who cannot be found.
Do not let the wait hold up the clock. Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003(a) requires a personal injury suit within two years of the date the claim accrues, with exceptions listed in the statute (Civil Practice and Remedies Code ch. 16, read 16 October 2026). Confirm your own deadline with an attorney. Our Sugar Land piece on filing a lawsuit after a crash and the Texas injury case timeline cover the rest.
How can Maida Law Firm help with a crash report?
A lawyer you authorize to act for you may be able to request the report on your behalf, so a question about a missing, late or disputed report is a fair reason to ask a lawyer for help before the insurer fills the gap.
For other crash questions see our Houston driver FAQ. Start with our Houston car accident lawyers page; the article on the claim step by step shows how a case runs, and fees and costs explains contingency. Bring the report to your first meeting along with the other items on our evaluation checklist. A question about your own report can go through the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a police report for a car accident in Texas?
Buy the officer’s crash report (the CR-3) from TxDOT’s Crash Report Online Purchase System, or request it from the police agency that investigated. TxDOT lists $6 for a regular copy and $8 for a certified one, and online buyers receive the report by email.
Can I get my car accident police report online?
Yes. TxDOT sells reports through its online system and emails them after payment, with a small surcharge. Houston Police Department crashes can be bought there too, though HPD says full copies are otherwise available only in person or by mail with the H.B. 2633 form.
How much does a Texas crash report cost?
The Transportation Code sets the fee for a copy at $6 and lets the agency certify it for $2 more. TxDOT’s page lists $6 for a regular copy and $8 for a certified copy and notes that credit-card payments may carry additional processing fees.
How long after an accident can I get the police report?
The officer must file the report with TxDOT by the 10th day after the collision, and the Houston Police Department says its crash reports need 5 to 8 days of processing. No statute sets a deadline for the agency to release it once you request it.
Can the other driver’s insurance company get my crash report?
Yes. Section 550.065(c)(4) lists the insurers that issued a policy covering a vehicle involved in the collision or any person involved, and people under contract to provide claims or underwriting for those insurers. Your own insurer is on the same list.
Can I get a crash report if I was not involved in the accident?
You can request a redacted copy, which the statute says any person may request. It withholds names, driver’s license numbers, addresses, phone numbers and license plates, among other details. The full report goes to people with a direct interest, such as drivers, owners and insurers.
What if the police report is wrong?
Only the officer who wrote the report can change a material fact in it. Anyone else can add a written supplement that clearly names who made the change. Ask the investigating agency how it accepts a supplement, and keep photographs and witness names that support your account.
About the authors
Sam A. Maida, Jr.
Owner and Managing Attorney
Sam A. Maida, Jr. has represented injured Texans in the greater Houston area since the firm opened in 1993.
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Bernard G. Johnson III
Litigation Managing Attorney
Bernard G. Johnson III is a board certified trial lawyer licensed in Texas since 1996 and a graduate of South Texas College of Law.