How to Get Your Texas Crash Report

Texas crash reports (form CR-3) are sold by TxDOT online for $6, or $8 certified, and appear within 14 days of the crash. Anyone can buy a redacted copy; the people involved get the full report.

Updated

Who can get the report

Anyone can buy a redacted copy of a Texas crash report, with names, addresses, dates of birth and other personal details hidden.

The full report goes to the people listed in Texas Transportation Code 550.065(c)(4) once they complete an online certification. They include:

  • Anyone involved in the crash, and their authorized representative
  • A driver involved, and the driver's employer, parent or legal guardian
  • The owner of a vehicle or property damaged in the crash
  • A person who has established financial responsibility for a vehicle involved, such as the policyholder
  • An insurer that covers a vehicle or person involved
  • Anyone who may sue because of a death in the crash

Where to request it

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) sells every Texas crash report (form CR-3), whichever agency took it, through the TxDOT Crash Report Online Purchase System. Payment goes through Texas.gov.

  1. Open the purchase system and choose to search for your crash report.
  2. Search by the name of a person or company involved, or by a driver's license number.
  3. Match the result to your crash by its date, time, county and city.
  4. Choose a certified or uncertified copy, and a full or redacted copy, then pay.

Some local agencies also sell their own reports. The Austin Police Department and the Houston Police Department sell reports through LexisNexis, and the Harris County Sheriff's Office through its own GovQA portal. The San Antonio Police Department sells copies through the city's open records portal, and the Fort Worth Police Department sends requesters to the TxDOT system.

What you need

Search with one of these:

  • The first and last name of a person involved. You can narrow the search with the county, city and crash date, and with optional details such as a license plate, the investigating agency, the agency's case ID, a driver's date of birth or the street.
  • The driver's license or ID card number of a driver involved.

The purchase system cannot search by crash ID or by VIN.

Fees and timing

  • Uncertified copy: $6
  • Certified copy: $8

A card surcharge is added at checkout. It can take up to 14 days from the crash for a report to appear in the search. The full report is available right away when you pay by card. A redacted copy is released after TxDOT reviews it, within 10 business days (20 business days for orders of 100 reports or more).

If the report is not filed yet

If you cannot find your report, search again until 14 days have passed since the crash. If it is still missing, ask the agency that responded whether the officer has filed it. The CRIS help desk is at 844-CRIS-HLP and support@crishlp.com, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central time, every day.

Official links

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