How to get a car accident report in Iowa

Where to get the report

• Iowa DOT (any agency’s officer report) $4 by mail on Form 431007

  Every officer who investigates a crash that must be reported under §321.266 must send a written report to the DOT within 24 hours after completing the investigation (Iowa Code §321.266(3)), and the DOT’s Crash Reporting Guide says almost all Iowa crash reports are filed electronically through the TraCS software. On written request and payment of $4 per copy, the DOT must make an officer’s report available to any party to the crash, the party’s insurance company or its agent, the party’s attorney, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or the Attorney General (§321.271(2)). To order: complete the Request for Copy of Investigating Officer’s Report of an Accident, Form 431007 (it asks you to check how you qualify and to attach proof, for example an insurer’s proof of status or an attorney’s good-standing printout from the judicial branch website), print and sign it, and mail it with $4 to the Bureau of Enforcement, Audits, and Records, Iowa Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 9204, Des Moines, IA 50306-9204. The DOT says “The $4 processing fee will be retained even if no crash report exists for the information submitted.” Not a party? The DOT sells a limited information accident report for $4, giving the date, time, specific location and immediate facts and circumstances; ask at the same address or Accident.Support@iowadot.us.

  Official page

• Iowa State Patrol district headquarters (trooper crashes) $4 from the patrol district office

  The Department of Public Safety’s rule says crash reports filed under §321.266 that it retains are available to any party to the crash, the party’s insurance company or its agent, or the party’s attorney on written request and payment of a $4 fee for each copy, paid to the Department of Public Safety, and that the request goes to the State Patrol district headquarters in the district where the crash occurred (661 IAC 1.4(5)). The rule adds that State Patrol reports of observations, measurements and examinations of physical evidence, including photographs, may be made available to a party or the party’s legal representative or insurer if the investigation is complete and release will not interfere with criminal proceedings or future investigations (661 IAC 1.4(6)). DPS lists the district offices and the counties each serves (for example District 1, 1333 Ohio St., Des Moines, for Boone, Dallas, Jasper, Marshall, Polk and Story counties). For the rest of a trooper’s file, send an open records request to recordsrequest@dps.state.ia.us. Rule change pending: in a Notice of Intended Action published September 30, 2026 (ARC 0608D, comments closed October 21, 2026), DPS proposes to rescind chapter 1 and replace it with a short chapter that leaves out subrules 1.4(5) and 1.4(6); as of October 29, 2026 it had not been adopted, so the $4 rule still stands. If it is adopted, the patrol, as the agency that keeps its officer’s report, would still have to provide a copy to the same people for a fee under §321.271(2), which does not set the amount.

  Official page

• City police or county sheriff that responded Ask the agency; it sets the fee

  If the agency whose officer filed the report keeps a copy, it must make it available to any party to the crash, the party’s insurance company or its agent, the party’s attorney, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, other law enforcement agencies or the Attorney General, on written request and payment of a fee (Iowa Code §321.271(2)). The statute does not set the local fee, so it varies by agency; the Attorney General and the FMCSA pay no fee. Call or write the records unit of the police department or sheriff that came to the crash, with the date, location, names and any case number the officer gave you. You can also order the same report from the DOT for $4, since the officer must file it there.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Iowa

Injury or death: notify police at once

Police notice: the driver of a vehicle in a crash resulting in injury to or death of any person must immediately, by the quickest means of communication, notify the sheriff of the county where it happened, the nearest office of the State Patrol, or any other peace officer as near as practicable to the crash location (Iowa Code §321.266(1)). The statute sets no police-notice duty for a crash that damages only property, but the Iowa DOT’s page says a driver in a crash anywhere in Iowa causing death, personal injury or total property damage of $1,500 or more “should contact the nearest law enforcement agency to have the accident investigated.” If no officer investigates, the driver report described below is required. If you are physically unable, another occupant who can must make the report (§321.268). At the scene, whatever the damage: after a crash with injury, death or damage to a vehicle that is driven or attended, you must give your name, address and the registration number of the vehicle you are driving, show your driver’s license on request if available, and give reasonable help to anyone injured, including taking or arranging transport for medical treatment when it is apparently needed or requested (§321.263(1)). If you know or have reason to believe your vehicle was in an injury or death crash, you must stop at or as close as possible to the scene and, if able, return to and remain there (§321.261(1)(a)); if a death occurs, every surviving driver must stay except to get aid or report to police, must leave a driver’s license, registration receipt or other identification at the scene before leaving, and must promptly report and then return or say where they can be found (§321.263(2)). A driver who left without knowing of an injury or death crash and later learns of possible involvement must, as soon as reasonably possible, make a good-faith effort to contact emergency services or call 911 (§321.261(1)(b)). Leaving an injury crash is a serious misdemeanor; leaving a serious injury crash is an aggravated misdemeanor, or a class “D” felony if your vehicle caused it; leaving a fatal crash is a class “D” felony, or a class “C” felony if your vehicle caused the death, and the DOT must revoke the license of anyone convicted (§321.261(2) to (5)). A serious misdemeanor carries a fine of $430 to $2,560 and up to one year (§903.1(1)(b)); an aggravated misdemeanor up to two years and $855 to $8,540 (§903.1(2)); a class “D” felony up to five years and $1,025 to $10,245, and a class “C” felony up to ten years and $1,370 to $13,660 (§902.9(1)(d), (e)). Property damage only: if the crash damaged only a vehicle that is driven or attended, you must move an operable vehicle completely off the traveled roadway to the nearest shoulder, emergency lane or median when it can be done safely, then stop and stay until you have given the information above (§321.262(1), (2)). If you hit an unattended vehicle, stop and either find and tell its operator or owner your name and address and the owner’s name and address, or leave a written note with those details and what happened in a conspicuous place in it (§321.264). If you damage property legally on or next to a highway, take reasonable steps to notify the owner, a peace officer or the person in charge, with your name, address and registration number (§321.265). Each of those three is a scheduled violation with a $135 fine (§805.8A(14)(m) to (o)). Change ahead: under 2026 Senate File 2088, the property damage figures in §321.266(2) and §321A.5(1) will rise from $1,500 to $5,000 on March 1, 2027, or earlier if the DOT director first submits the notice the act describes; we found no such notice as of October 29, 2026.

The driver report you may have to file

No officer, injury/$1,500+: DOT in 72h

Who must file: the driver of a vehicle in a crash resulting in injury to or death of any person, or total property damage to an apparent extent of $1,500 or more, must forward a written report of the crash to the Iowa DOT within 72 hours, but “such report is not required when the accident is investigated by a law enforcement agency” (Iowa Code §321.266(2)). The report must be on a DOT-approved form if one is available (§321.269(2)); the DOT’s form is the Iowa Accident Report, Form 433002, which can be filled in online, printed and signed. The DOT says you must attempt to fill it out completely, that the insurance information on page four must be completed, and that failing to complete the insurance coverage information may result in suspension of your driving and registration privileges; mail pages 3 and 4 to the Bureau of Enforcement, Audits, and Records, Iowa Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 9204, Des Moines, IA 50306-9204. The DOT may require supplemental reports when it finds the original insufficient (§321.267), and a city may by ordinance require a copy for a city department (§321.273). Your report is for the DOT’s confidential use and cannot be used as evidence in a civil or criminal case arising from the crash, but on request the DOT must give any person involved, their insurer or agent, or their attorney the identity and address of the other people involved, and may give the names of their liability insurers; you can get a copy of your own report on written request (§321.271(1)). The DOT says it provides a copy of a driver report you completed within the last 10 years for 50 cents per document. Penalties: not filing is a simple misdemeanor (§321.482), which for an adult means a fine of $105 to $855, and the court may also or instead order up to 30 days in jail (§903.1(1)(a)); the DOT “shall suspend” the license of anyone who “willfully fails, refuses, or neglects” to make a required crash report (§321A.4), and its page says failing to return the form within 72 hours may result in suspension. Separately, after a report of a crash with injury, death or damage to one person’s property of $1,500 or more, the DOT must suspend the license and registrations of each driver and owner who had no liability policy or other qualifying coverage unless security is deposited, with at least 10 days’ notice (§321A.5(1), (2)). Change ahead: under 2026 Senate File 2088, from March 1, 2027 (or the earlier DOT notice date), the threshold will be $5,000, a driver whose vehicle has no financial liability coverage in effect will have to report every crash regardless of injury, death or damage (still not when a law enforcement agency investigates), and the report will have to be in an electronic format submitted in a manner the DOT approves (§321.271(1) as amended).

What the report costs

$4 at DOT or State Patrol; local varies

Iowa DOT: the statute sets “a fee of four dollars for each copy” of an officer’s report filed with the DOT (Iowa Code §321.271(2)), and the DOT keeps the $4 processing fee even if no report matches your request. A limited information accident report (date, time, location and immediate facts) is also $4. A copy of your own driver report is 50 cents per document. Iowa State Patrol district headquarters: $4 for each copy, paid to the Department of Public Safety (661 IAC 1.4(5)); DPS has proposed rescinding that rule (ARC 0608D, September 30, 2026, not adopted as of October 29, 2026), which would leave the patrol’s fee unset by rule. City police and county sheriffs: the statute requires “the payment of a fee” without setting it, so the amount varies by agency; ask before you pay. The Attorney General and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration may not be charged by the DOT or a local agency (§321.271(2)). If you ask an agency for more than the crash report (photos, statements, video), that is an open records request under Iowa Code chapter 22, where fees are limited to the actual cost of the service.

When the report is ready

Officer files within 24h of finishing

An investigating officer must send the report to the DOT within 24 hours after completing the investigation (Iowa Code §321.266(3)); the deadline runs from the end of the investigation, not from the crash. The DOT’s Investigating Officer’s Crash Reporting Guide (revised September 2024) tells officers the same and adds that “Ideally an initial crash report should be sent in within five days of the crash.” We found no official statement of how long after that a copy can be ordered or how long the DOT keeps officer reports; it says it can supply a copy of a driver report completed within the last 10 years. Requests to the DOT are by mail, and the DOT does not state a processing time for them. Change ahead: under 2026 Senate File 2088, from March 1, 2027 (or the earlier DOT notice date), §321.266(3) will no longer state the 24-hour deadline, and §321.271(2) will require officer reports to be in an electronic format submitted in a manner the DOT approves. The DOT’s September 2, 2026 Notice of Intended Action (ARC 0514D) says electronic submission is already possible through its existing system.

Who can get a copy

Parties, insurers, lawyers, agencies

The officer’s report is not open to the general public. The DOT must provide it to any party to the crash, the party’s insurance company or its agent, the party’s attorney, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or the Attorney General; a local agency that keeps a copy must provide it to the same people and to other law enforcement agencies (Iowa Code §321.271(2)). The DOT’s page puts it as “persons involved in the accident, their attorney, insurance companies or insurance agents.” Its Form 431007 lets you qualify as a party if you were a driver, owner or lessee, passenger or pedestrian, a parent or guardian (with proof of custody, guardianship or power of attorney), or the owner of damaged property, and also lists insurers, attorneys and FMCSA or Attorney General staff, each with proof of status, and officers of another law enforcement agency, who include the $4 fee. Anyone can get the basic facts: the date, time, specific location and immediate facts and circumstances of a crash may not be kept confidential except where disclosure would plainly and seriously jeopardize an investigation or pose a clear and present danger to someone’s safety (§321.271(3)), and the DOT sells that limited information report for $4. Drivers’ own reports are confidential, but the DOT must tell a person involved, their insurer or agent, or their attorney the identity and address of the other people involved (§321.271(1)). DOT records containing personal information, such as names and addresses, are also governed by the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (§321.11(2)).

What to do now

1. 1

   Notify police at once after an injury crash

   Call the sheriff, the State Patrol or another officer immediately if anyone is hurt or killed. For a damage-only crash, move a drivable car off the traveled roadway if it is safe, then exchange information.

2. 2

   File Form 433002 if no officer investigated

   With injury, death or $1,500 or more in total damage and no police investigation, mail the Iowa Accident Report to the DOT within 72 hours, with the insurance section completed.

3. 3

   Order the officer’s report from the DOT

   Mail Form 431007 with $4 and proof of how you qualify. The fee is kept if no report is found, so give the date, county and location precisely.

4. 4

   Ask the agency for photos and video too

   Body camera video, dashcam video and scene photos are separate records. Send the responding agency an open records request quickly and expect much of its file to be treated as confidential.

5. 5

   Post the crash on the bounty board

   Dashcam and business camera footage is not in any police file and is often overwritten within days.

Frequently asked questions