How do I get a copy of my crash report in Texas?

The report you want is the CR-3, and it goes to TxDOT

When a police officer investigates a crash anywhere in Texas, the officer writes form CR-3, the Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report. Under Transportation Code § 550.062, an officer has to write one whenever someone is hurt or killed, or when property damage to any one person appears to be $1,000 or more, and has to file it electronically with the Texas Department of Transportation no later than the tenth day after the crash.

That is why one state system holds reports from DPS troopers, sheriff's deputies, constables and city police all over Texas: TxDOT's Crash Records Information System, known as CRIS. The card with a case number the officer hands you at the scene is not the report. It is your receipt that a report is coming, so keep it, or a photo of it.

How to buy it on CRIS

TxDOT sells copies through its Crash Report Online Purchase System at cris.txdot.gov. You can search four ways:

• By name of a person involved, first and last, as it appears on the driver license. You can narrow the search with the crash date, county, city, a license plate or a driver's date of birth.
• By driver license or ID number.
• By vehicle identification number (VIN).
• By TxDOT Crash ID, an eight-digit number assigned once the report reaches CRIS.

TxDOT's own advice is to start with the first and last name and only one more field, and to leave off suffixes like Jr. or Sr. Too many search fields is the most common reason people don't find their report.

A regular copy costs $6 and a certified copy $8, the amounts set by § 550.065. Paying by card adds a Texas.gov processing fee and surcharge. Paying by electronic check avoids that fee but holds the report for ten days. After you pay, you download the report and get an emailed receipt; the download stays available for ten days. A certified copy matters mainly for court. For most other purposes a regular copy works, and we decide which one your case needs.

When it will be there

The law gives the officer ten days, and TxDOT says a report can take up to 14 days to show up in search results. If your crash was in the last two weeks and you find nothing, that is normal. It does not mean there is no report. If it has been longer than two weeks, TxDOT says to contact the agency that investigated the crash to confirm the report was submitted. Once you hire us, our office makes that call.

Who can get the full report

Crash reports are confidential under Transportation Code § 550.065, except to people with a direct interest. That list includes everyone involved in the crash and their authorized representatives (including their lawyer), the drivers, the parents, guardians or employers of a driver, owners of damaged vehicles or property, insurers that cover a vehicle or person involved, and anyone who may bring a lawsuit over a death in the crash. If you were in the crash, you qualify.

Anyone else can buy only a redacted copy, with names, license numbers, addresses (except the ZIP code), phone numbers, plates and insurer names blacked out. TxDOT releases redacted copies within ten business days.

Some cities sell their own reports

A few departments also sell reports directly. Houston police reports are sold through a vendor or at HPD headquarters, which we explain in how to get your crash report in Houston. El Paso police sell theirs at their records office, covered in how to get a crash report in El Paso. If you are not sure which agency worked your crash, look at the card the officer gave you.

What if the police never came?

Years ago, drivers in crashes without an officer filled out a driver's crash report, form CR-2, and sent it to the state. TxDOT no longer accepts CR-2 forms. Any that are mailed in are destroyed, and TxDOT stopped keeping old ones as of January 1, 2019. If a local agency gave you a CR-2 or a similar form, fill it out and keep your own copy. A city may also require drivers to file a report with a city department by local ordinance (§ 550.067), so if your city gave you a form, follow its instructions.

The better answer is not to end up without a report. Texas law requires a driver in a crash with injury, death or a car that can't be driven to report it immediately, by the quickest means (§ 550.026). In practice that means calling 911 and asking for an officer. If no report was ever made, your claim does not end. We build it from photos, witnesses, medical records and the information the other driver was legally required to give you: name, address, vehicle registration and insurer (§ 550.023).

If the report is wrong

Mistakes in crash reports are common: a misspelled name, the wrong insurer, vehicles switched, a witness left off. Texas law controls how a report can be changed. Under § 550.068, only the officer who wrote the report can change a material fact in it. Anyone else can change it only through a written supplement that identifies who made the change. TxDOT can't edit it for you.

That means a correction goes through the agency that investigated the crash. We contact that agency, send what shows the error (photos, your insurance card, a witness's account) and ask for a supplement. The officer's opinion about who caused the crash is harder to change, but it is not the final word. See the police report says I was at fault.

What CRIS does not have

TxDOT keeps only the crash report itself. Dash camera and body camera video, the officer's field notes and the scene photos stay with the agency that investigated, and have to be requested from that agency. So does the video from nearby businesses and homes, which is often erased within days or weeks. We request all of it early, without waiting for the report to come out.

You don't have to search CRIS yourself. When you hire us, we pull the report, read it line by line and fix what we can. You talk with Jimmy directly, by phone, text, email or video call, and in person when needed, wherever you are in Texas.

Other ways people ask this

What is a CR-3?

It is the Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report, the official report an officer writes after investigating a crash. It lists the drivers, vehicles, insurers, witnesses, a diagram, the officer's narrative and any citations.

How much does a Texas crash report cost?

$6 for a regular copy and $8 for a certified copy on CRIS, plus a processing fee and surcharge if you pay by card.

I searched CRIS and found nothing. Is there no report?

Not necessarily. Reports can take up to 14 days to appear, and too many search fields can hide a report. Try the first and last name plus one other field. After two weeks, the investigating agency should be asked whether it submitted the report.

Do I still need to file a CR-2 driver's report?

TxDOT no longer accepts CR-2 forms and destroys any it receives. If a local agency or your city gave you a form, follow its instructions and keep a copy.

Can someone who wasn't in the crash get my report?

Only a redacted copy, unless they are on the list in Transportation Code § 550.065, such as insurers, vehicle owners and people's legal representatives.

The report has my insurance wrong. Can TxDOT fix it?

No. Only the investigating officer can change a material fact, and other changes go through a written supplement from the agency. We ask the agency for the correction.

Is the dash cam video on CRIS?

No. TxDOT holds only the crash report. Video, photos and field notes have to be requested from the agency that investigated.

Authority: TxDOT — Crash reports and records · TxDOT CRIS Purchase User Guide · TxDOT Crash Report Online Purchase System · Tex. Transp. Code ch. 550 (§§ 550.026, 550.062, 550.065, 550.068)