How to get a car accident report in Arkansas

Where to get the report

• Arkansas State Police Crash Records Section (statewide repository) $10 if involved, $25 others

  The State Police calls itself the statutory repository for motor vehicle crash investigation records and says its repository includes copies of reports prepared by local and county agencies; any person may get a copy by written request to the State Police (Ark. Code Ann. 27-53-210(a), 27-53-305(b)). Online: the Crash Report Online Purchase System at crashreports.ark.org lets you search by name, date of birth, driver’s license number, crash report number or crash date (the report number alone is enough), delivers reports electronically if available, and states “A statutory fee of $25.00 applies to each report requested.” The portal does not mention the $10.00 rate for involved persons, which the statute sets and the State Police’s mail-in form applies; we could not confirm whether the portal charges an involved person $10.00, so if you were involved and want the $10.00 rate, use the mail-in form or call. By mail: use the “Individual Involved” form ($10.00 per report; include a copy of your driver’s license or ID card; a parent or guardian of a juvenile involved must include the juvenile’s birth certificate and a copy of the parent’s or guardian’s license or ID) or the “Individual NOT Involved” form ($25.00 per report), with a check or money order payable to the Arkansas State Police, to Arkansas State Police, Crash Records Section, One State Police Plaza Drive, Little Rock, AR 72209. The forms say reports can be returned by email or fax. Give at least the crash date, highway number, county and the name of one driver. For crashes with juvenile occupants, the portal says to call the Crash Records Section at (501) 618-8130. The State Police also says its own reports are typically available at the troop headquarters for the area where the crash happened.

  Official page

• City police department or county sheriff that worked the crash Statute sets $10 per basic report

  The statute divides the work by road: the State Police on interstates; the State Police and, inside cities, the city police on state highways; city police (or, in smaller towns, city police or the sheriff) on city streets; the sheriff on county roads; and the State Police may investigate on any street, county road or state highway (Ark. Code Ann. 27-53-303(b)). The agency that worked the crash keeps its own report, and the State Police says the copies in its repository are duplicates of records routinely available at the department where the report was generated. The statute sets the local fee: for copies from county and municipal law enforcement agencies “there shall be charged” $10.00 for each copy of a basic accident report and $1.50 per page for each copy of a supplemental report, and keep the money for the agency (27-53-210(c)). Example, Little Rock Police Department, from its own page: accident reports are ordered online through LexisNexis BuyCrash (buycrash.lexisnexisrisk.com), or from the LRPD Records Division, 615 W. Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72201, (501) 371-4654, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday; the page says police and accident reports are generally available eight hours after the report is taken and that “The cost of reports are between $5.00 – $10.00.” That range does not match the single $10.00 fee in the statute; ask the agency what it charges.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Arkansas

Injury, death or $3,000+: call police

The reporting duty is Ark. Code Ann. 27-53-202(a)(1): “The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person or total property damage to an apparent extent of three thousand dollars ($3,000) or more shall notify the nearest law enforcement agency immediately.” The threshold was one thousand dollars until 2023 Act 815 (HB1633, approved April 13, 2023) raised it to $3,000. Everyone involved must make themselves readily available to the investigating officers (27-53-202(a)(2)). If the driver is physically incapable of reporting, another occupant who is capable must make the report (27-53-203(a)). Failing or refusing to comply is punishable by a fine of $100 to $1,000 on conviction in the county where the crash happened, and for a willful refusal the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration must revoke the license of the person convicted (27-53-201). At the scene: in a crash that causes physical injury, serious physical injury or death, you must stop immediately at or as close as possible to the scene, without obstructing traffic more than necessary, and return to and remain at the scene until you have met the duties in 27-53-103 (27-53-101(b)); failing to do so (or to meet the 27-53-103 duties) is a Class D felony if the crash results in physical injury to another person, a Class B felony for a driver who knowingly or recklessly fails to comply in a crash causing serious physical injury or death, and the license of a person convicted must be revoked (27-53-101(c) to (e)). In a crash that damages only an attended vehicle or another person’s personal property, you must stop and remain until you have met the 27-53-103 duties, and you must remove your vehicle from the roadway unless it is disabled or someone has a visible or apparent injury; moving it is not an admission of liability (27-53-102(a), (c)). Knowingly violating 27-53-102 is a Class B misdemeanor, a Class A misdemeanor if actual damage is $1,000 or more but less than $10,000, and a Class D felony at $10,000 or more (27-53-102(d)). The information you must give: your name, address and the registration number of the vehicle you are driving; on request and if available, you must show your driver’s license, and you must give reasonable assistance to anyone injured, including taking or arranging to take them for treatment if it is apparent that treatment is necessary or they ask (27-53-103(a)). If you know a law enforcement agency was called, you must stay at the scene for a reasonable time, which the statute sets at not less than 30 minutes, unless you must leave to help an injured person (27-53-103(b)). Unattended vehicle: stop immediately and either find and notify the operator or owner of the name and address of the driver and of the owner of the striking vehicle, or leave a written notice in a conspicuous place in the struck vehicle with the name, address and contact information of the driver and of the owner of the striking vehicle and a statement of the circumstances (27-53-104). Fixtures or other property on or next to a highway: take reasonable steps to notify the owner or person in charge of the property with your name, address and license plate number (leaving your contact information may be reasonable if the owner is not present), show your license on request, and report the crash as 27-53-202 requires (27-53-105). Each of these duties applies to crashes on streets and highways, in the parking areas of private businesses, “or elsewhere throughout the state” (27-53-101(b)(3), 27-53-102(b), 27-53-104(b), 27-53-105(b)). The officer’s report: the investigating officer must file the report with the Arkansas State Police within five days after the investigation (27-53-303(c)), on forms the State Police prescribes with the concurrence of the Arkansas Department of Transportation (27-53-304). No person or government entity may charge you, your insurer or anyone else an accident response service fee for police responding to or investigating a crash (27-53-307). A city may also, by ordinance, require drivers to file a crash report with a city department (27-53-205); we did not survey city ordinances.

The driver report you may have to file

SR-1 in 30 days: injury or over $1,000

Separately from calling police, the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act requires the driver of a vehicle subject to registration that is involved in a crash in Arkansas resulting in damage to the property of any one person in excess of $1,000, or in bodily injury to or death of any person, to report the crash to the Office of Driver Services within 30 days on an electronic or paper form approved by the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration, “subject to the exemptions provided in §§ 27-19-509 and 27-19-604” (Ark. Code Ann. 27-19-501). The form is the Arkansas Motor Vehicle Accident Report (SR-1), which carries the Verification of Liability Insurance (SR-21) at the bottom, to be signed by an authorized representative of your insurer. The Department’s Safety Responsibility page says the SR-1 “must be submitted within thirty (30) days when damage to the property of any one person is in excess of $1,000.00 or results in the injury or death of any person regardless of who is at fault.” Send it to the Safety Responsibility Section, P.O. Box 1272, Room 1120, Little Rock, AR 72203 (the form’s address), fax (501) 682-2100, email SR@dfa.arkansas.gov, phone (501) 682-7100. Exemptions in the statute: a person who is physically incapable of reporting need not report while incapacitated, and if that driver does not own the vehicle the owner must make the report within five days after learning of the crash (27-19-509); 27-19-604 lists nine exceptions to “the requirements as to security and suspension” in the next subchapter, among them a driver or owner covered by a liability policy meeting the state minimum, a vehicle that was lawfully parked, and a crash that caused no injury or damage to anyone other than the driver or owner. Because 27-19-501 makes the SR-1 duty “subject to” those exceptions while 27-19-604 itself speaks only of security and suspension, the statute does not say plainly whether, for example, an insured driver is excused from filing the SR-1. The Department’s page states the duty with no exceptions (“regardless of who is at fault”), and the SR-1 carries an insurance verification section for insured drivers, so if in doubt, file it. Penalty: the Office of Driver Services may, in its discretion, suspend the license of a person who fails to report or to give correct information until the report is filed and for up to 30 more days (27-19-508), and a motorist who has not filed a certificate of insurance within 90 days of the crash is presumed uninsured (27-19-503). The SR-1 is confidential: it may be examined by any person named in it or that person’s representative designated in writing, but it is not open to general public inspection (27-19-510).

What the report costs

ASP $10 if involved, $25 others

Arkansas sets crash report fees by statute (Ark. Code Ann. 27-53-210, which 27-53-305(b) applies to every investigating officer’s report the State Police holds). Arkansas State Police: $25.00 for each copy of a basic accident report and $1.50 per page for each copy of a supplemental report, except that the basic report fee “shall be ten dollars ($10.00) for a person who was involved in the accident” (27-53-210(b)(1)). 2025 Act 672 (HB1336, approved April 16, 2025) set these amounts effective July 1, 2025, raising the general fee from $10.00; the statute credits the money to the State Police Fund with $10.00 for operations and $15.00 for State Police retirement benefits (27-53-210(b)(2)). The State Police crash records page says the same: $10 per report if the requester was involved, $25 if not. Its online portal states only that a $25.00 statutory fee applies to each report; we found no statement there of the $10.00 rate or of any added processing fee. County and city police and sheriffs: $10.00 for each basic report and $1.50 per page for supplemental reports (27-53-210(c)); Little Rock’s page nonetheless says its reports cost between $5.00 and $10.00. Police may not charge anyone a fee for responding to or investigating the crash itself (27-53-307).

When the report is ready

ASP portal: most in 10 business days

The investigating officer must investigate “with all possible promptness” and file the report with the State Police within five days after the investigation (Ark. Code Ann. 27-53-303(c)). The State Police crash records page says that once a supervisor has checked a trooper’s report for accuracy, it goes to the repository in Little Rock and “can be ordered in most cases within 10 days of the report being completed.” Its online portal says “Most reports are accessible within ten (10) business days following the date of the crash.” The two pages count from different starting points, so a report may take longer if the investigation or review is not finished. Little Rock Police says its accident reports are generally available eight hours after the report is taken. Retention: cities must keep their police department’s accident reports for three years, if the records are being maintained, after which they may be disposed of (Ark. Code Ann. 14-2-204(a)(2)(A), (b)(2)). We found no official statement of how long the State Police keeps crash reports.

Who can get a copy

Public record; minors’ names redacted

Crash reports are public. “All traffic accident investigating officers’ reports are public records and open to public inspection at all reasonable times” (Ark. Code Ann. 27-53-305(a)), as are the State Police’s own crash reports (27-53-209), and copies may be obtained “by any person who makes a written request” (27-53-210(a)). The exception: the name and address of an occupant under 18 must appear in the report but is not open to public inspection, under the crash statutes or the Freedom of Information Act, and must be redacted from copies, unless the requester is the minor’s parent, legal guardian or legal custodian, or a representative of an insurance company that insures a person involved in the crash (27-53-202(b)(2)(B), (e)). That is why the portal sends reports with juvenile occupants to the Crash Records Section by phone, and why the involved-person form asks a parent or guardian for the juvenile’s birth certificate. The Arkansas Supreme Court has held that police crash reports are not “motor vehicle records” under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, so names and addresses in them are not shielded on that ground (Ark. State Police v. Wren, 2016 Ark. 188, as summarized in the Attorney General’s 2026 Freedom of Information Handbook). Two limits on use: 27-53-208 says all required accident reports and supplemental reports are “without prejudice to the individual so reporting” and are for the use of the State Police (27-53-208(a)(1)), and that “No report shall be used as evidence in any civil or criminal trial arising out of an accident” (27-53-208(b)(1)); the official Code’s case notes cite Stephens v. State, 320 Ark. 426 (1995), for the point that this rule covers the written report itself but not an investigating officer’s testimony about what the officer saw or was told. We found no official guidance on how the rule applies to an officer’s report as opposed to a driver’s, so you may want to ask a lawyer before relying on one in court. And the driver’s SR-1 filed with the Office of Driver Services is not public, open only to people named in it and their written representatives (27-19-510). We found no waiting period before release.

What to do now

1. 1

   Call police from the scene

   If anyone is hurt or killed, or total damage looks like $3,000 or more, notify the nearest law enforcement agency immediately (27-53-202). If you know police were called, stay at least 30 minutes unless you leave to help someone hurt.

2. 2

   Get the report number before you leave

   Ask the officer which agency is writing the report and for its number. The State Police portal finds a report from the number alone.

3. 3

   Order the report

   From the State Police: $10 if you were involved (mail-in form with a copy of your ID), $25 otherwise. From a city or county agency: ask that agency.

4. 4

   File the SR-1 within 30 days

   If anyone was hurt or killed or one person’s damage is over $1,000, send the SR-1 to the Office of Driver Services, with the SR-21 insurance section signed by your insurer.

Frequently asked questions