How to get a car accident report in Mississippi

Where to get the report

• Mississippi Highway Patrol and participating local agencies (DPS Crash Reports portal) ms.gov portal; listed requesters only

  DPS’s Crash Reports page and the Highway Patrol page both send you to the Department of Public Safety’s Crash Reports portal on ms.gov. Before searching you must agree to its disclaimer: “By obtaining a copy of this Mississippi Uniform Crash Report, I am declaring that I am one of the following: 1) A party involved in the crash; 2) A representative of an involved party’s estate; 3) An involved party’s next of kin; 4) Legal representative of an involved party; or 5) Insurer or representative of insurer of an involved party,” and it says § 63-3-417 prohibits any other person or entity from acquiring the report and quotes that section’s penalty for fraudulently obtaining one (a misdemeanor, a fine of up to $2,500.00, up to six months in county jail, or both). You then pick the agency and search by state or local case number, or by the vehicle’s VIN or license plate with the incident date, plus the last name of a person involved. When we checked on October 29, 2026, the agency list held 59 agencies, including MHP, Capitol Police, and city police and sheriffs such as Jackson, Gulfport, Southaven, Tupelo, Meridian and DeSoto County; if the agency that worked your crash is not listed, ask that agency directly. The portal warns that once a report is bought and emailed, it is available for only 24 hours, so save a copy right away. The portal shows its price only after a search for a specific report; we did not run one, so we cannot state the current online price. An undated DPS Accident Investigation page says Commissioner Santa Cruz raised the fee for a copy of a Mississippi Uniform Crash Report from $10 to $15 per copy and that online purchases cost $20.00 through a vendor site; DPS’s home page now names Sean Tindell as Commissioner, and DPS’s current crash report links point to the ms.gov portal instead, so treat those figures as possibly out of date.

  Official page

• City police or county sheriff (example: Southaven Police Department) Ask the agency that worked the crash

  Inside city limits the city police investigate reportable crashes, and outside them the Highway Patrol or the sheriff does (Miss. Code § 63-3-411(3)), so the report sits with whichever agency responded. Ask that agency for its procedure and fee, or check whether it is listed in the DPS portal. Example, Southaven only: its official FAQ says a copy of an accident report or information report may be purchased for $10, cash only, from the Records Department at 8691 Northwest Dr., Southaven, MS 38671, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Southaven also appears in the DPS online portal, which may charge a different amount. A city may also require drivers to file their own report with a city department, and any such report is confidential and subject to § 63-3-417 (§ 63-3-423).

  Official page

• Mississippi Department of Public Safety (records requests) Other DPS records: NextRequest portal

  For DPS records other than the crash report itself, such as photos, video or other investigative material, DPS links a public records request portal (NextRequest) from its website. DPS’s Public Records Policy (Title 31, Part 5 of the Mississippi Administrative Code, filed with the Secretary of State) says requests must be in writing following the instructions on its website, or by mail to Legal Division, Attn: Public Records, P.O. Box 958, Jackson, Mississippi 39205, and that within seven business days of receiving a request the Legal Division will make the records available, send copies once any deposit is paid, give a reasonable estimate of when they will be available, ask for clarification, or deny the request. Its standard photocopies cost $0.15 per page, plus personnel time for searching, reviewing and copying at the rate of the lowest paid qualified employee, and mailing. See the accident video page for how the Public Records Act applies to video.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Mississippi

Injury, death or $500+: call police now

Notice to police (Miss. Code § 63-3-411(1)): the driver of a vehicle in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person, or total property damage to an apparent extent of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or more, “shall immediately, by the quickest means of communication, give notice of the collision” to the local police department if the crash happened inside an incorporated municipality, or, outside one, to the nearest sheriff’s office or highway patrol station. If the driver is physically incapable of making a required report and another occupant who was in the vehicle can, that occupant must make or cause to be made the report (§ 63-3-413). Stop and remain: after a crash that injures or kills anyone, the driver must immediately stop at or as close to the scene as possible, without obstructing traffic or endangering life more than necessary, and remain until meeting the duties of § 63-3-405 (§ 63-3-401(1), (2)). Willfully failing to stop or comply after an injury crash is punishable by 30 days to one year in jail, a fine of $100 to $5,000, or both; if the crash caused a death or listed serious permanent injuries, it is a felony punishable by 5 to 20 years, a fine of $1,000 to $10,000, or both; and the commissioner must revoke the license of anyone convicted (§ 63-3-401(3) to (5)). After a crash that damages only a vehicle that someone is driving or attending, the driver must also stop and remain until meeting § 63-3-405, and failing to do so is a misdemeanor (§ 63-3-403). Information and aid (§ 63-3-405): after a crash involving injury, death or damage to an attended vehicle, give your name, address and the registration number of the vehicle you are driving, show your license on request and if available to the person struck or the other driver, occupant or attendant, and give any injured person reasonable assistance, including carrying or arranging to carry them to a physician, surgeon or hospital if treatment is apparently needed or they ask. A driver who in good faith and with reasonable care gives emergency care at the scene is not liable for civil damages for it. Unattended vehicle (§ 63-3-407): stop, and either find and tell the operator or owner the name and address of the driver and owner of the striking vehicle, or leave a written notice in a conspicuous place in the struck vehicle with those names and addresses and a statement of the circumstances; this does not apply where no material damage is done and the owner was negligent in leaving the vehicle parked as it was. Fixtures (§ 63-3-409): if you damage only fixtures on or next to a highway, take reasonable steps to find and tell the owner or person in charge, with your name, address and registration number, show your license on request, and report as § 63-3-411 requires. Investigation: the Highway Patrol or the sheriff must investigate reportable crashes outside city limits, and the city police must investigate those inside city limits (§ 63-3-411(3)). No separate driver report: Mississippi has no standing requirement that drivers file their own crash report with DPS. DPS may require a driver in a reportable crash to file supplemental reports when the original report is insufficient, and may require witnesses to report (§ 63-3-411(2)); a city may by ordinance require drivers to file a report, or a copy of a report filed with DPS, with a designated city department (§ 63-3-423). Mississippi once had one: until 2003, § 63-3-411 required the driver in a crash with injury, death or apparent damage of $1,000.00 or more to forward a written report to DPS within ten days, and 2003 House Bill 1184 (effective July 1, 2003) deleted that requirement and repealed § 63-15-9, which required operators to file accident reports. The former post-crash security-deposit sections, §§ 63-15-11 to 63-15-21, were repealed by 2013 House Bill 1277.

What the report costs

Varies by agency; no fee set by statute

We found no Mississippi statute that sets a fee for a copy of a crash report, and none of the 2008 to 2026 enacted bills we searched sets one. Each agency charges its own price. DPS’s undated Accident Investigation page says Commissioner Santa Cruz approved raising the fee for a copy of a Mississippi Uniform Crash Report from $10 per copy to $15 per copy, and that the online fee, through a vendor site, is $20.00. DPS’s home page now names Sean Tindell as Commissioner, so the notice predates the current administration, and DPS’s current Crash Reports and Highway Patrol pages instead link to the ms.gov Crash Reports portal, which shows a price only after you search for a specific report, so we could not confirm what the portal charges today. Example, Southaven Police only: $10, cash only, at its Records Department. For other records under the Public Records Act, an agency may charge no more than its actual cost of searching, reviewing, duplicating and mailing, at the pay scale of the lowest level employee competent to do the work, collected in advance (Miss. Code § 25-61-7(1)); DPS’s policy sets $0.15 per page for standard photocopies.

When the report is ready

Officer report due within 6 days

Every officer who investigates a reportable crash, at the scene or later through interviews, must forward a written report within six (6) days after completing the investigation: to DPS if the crash was outside city limits, or to the city police department if it was inside; police departments must forward reports to DPS within six (6) days of the date of the accident (Miss. Code § 63-3-411(3)). Reports are made on DPS’s statewide uniform traffic accident report form, which DPS may also provide electronically to law enforcement (§ 63-3-415(1), (2)). We found no official statement of how soon a report can be bought after the crash or how long agencies keep crash reports. On the DPS portal, a purchased report emailed to you stays available for only 24 hours, so download and save it.

Who can get a copy

Limited: parties, kin, lawyers, insurers

Required accident reports and supplemental reports are “without prejudice to the individual so reporting” and, except as the section provides, “for the confidential use of the department” (Miss. Code § 63-3-417(1)). DPS may, on written request, disclose information in a report to any person involved in the accident, the spouse or next of kin of any such person, any person against whom a claim is made as a result of the accident, or the representative of that person’s estate, or to that requester’s legal counsel or a representative of the requester’s insurer, except the parties’ own version of the accident in a written report the parties filed; it may also disclose the identity of a person involved when that identity is not otherwise known or the person denies being there (§ 63-3-417(1)). The statute says DPS “may” disclose to these people. DPS’s ms.gov portal makes every buyer declare that they are a party, an estate representative, next of kin, a party’s legal representative, or an insurer or its representative. Anyone not authorized who fraudulently obtains or tries to obtain a report or its information commits a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $2,500.00, up to six months in county jail, or both (§ 63-3-417(4)). DPS may also sell vehicle-specific crash data in bulk for vehicle history reports, but buyers may not use it to identify or contact people (§ 63-3-417(2)). Admissibility of a report in court is governed by the Mississippi Rules of Evidence, and DPS must give, on demand, a certificate showing whether a report was made (§ 63-3-417(1)). Reports a city requires drivers to file are also confidential and subject to § 63-3-417 (§ 63-3-423). We found no official statement on whether city or county agencies apply the same limits to their own copies, so expect them to ask how you were involved.

What to do now

1. 1

   Call police if the law requires it

   After a crash with injury, death or apparent damage of $500 or more, notify city police, or outside a city the sheriff or Highway Patrol, immediately by the quickest means.

2. 2

   Get the agency and case number

   Ask the officer which agency is taking the report and for its case number. The DPS portal searches by agency and case number, or by VIN or plate with the date.

3. 3

   Buy it online or from the agency

   Check the DPS Crash Reports portal on ms.gov for your agency; if it is not listed, ask that agency’s records office. Save the download at once, since it expires after 24 hours.

4. 4

   Ask for video in a separate request

   The crash report does not include body camera or dashcam video. Send a written public records request to the same agency right away; see the accident video page.

Frequently asked questions