How to get a car accident report in Missouri

Where to get the report

• Missouri State Highway Patrol (crashes it investigated) $6.00 a report; online after 10 days

  The Patrol says to wait 10 days from the date of the crash investigation, then request the report through its Public Records Center (mshp.govqa.us, select the traffic crash report request), where you can pay by credit or debit card and receive the report electronically. Currently the Patrol charges $6.00 for each basic motor vehicle crash report; the Public Records Center says the fee rose to $6.00 per report copy effective October 1, 2023, and that the notary fee rose from $2.00 to $5.00 per request on August 1, 2024. Additional fees, not stated on the page, apply for reconstruction reports, photographs, certified copies, crash data retrieval information, CDs and electronic mapping data. By mail, send the request with a check or money order payable to “DPS - Missouri State Highway Patrol” (cash is not accepted and will be returned) to the troop headquarters where the crash occurred, the troop headquarters nearest you, or Missouri State Highway Patrol, Patrol Records Division, P.O. Box 568, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102, Attention: Traffic Crash Reports. The page says requests for crashes in 1996 or earlier, certified crash reports, crash report photographs and crash reconstruction reports must go to the Patrol Records Division, (573) 526-6113, ext. 1702, although the same page also says certified copies of reports from 1997 or later may go to a troop headquarters. The Patrol’s request page also says it is experiencing a backlog and you may not receive your report for an extended period. Conflict: the Troop E accident report page still lists the fee as $3.75, which the Patrol’s current request page and Public Records Center supersede.

  Official page

• City police department or county sheriff Process and fee vary by agency

  Most Missouri crashes are worked by city police or a sheriff’s office, and that agency keeps the report. There is no statewide crash report fee for local agencies; they charge under the Sunshine Law, which caps paper copies at 10 cents per page for pages up to 9 by 14 inches, plus duplicating time at no more than the average hourly rate of clerical staff and actual research time (RSMo 610.026.1(1)). Example, Springfield Police Department, from its own page: accident reports are sold electronically through LexisNexis BuyCrash, available 7 to 10 business days after the crash, and the page does not state the BuyCrash price; for crashes before March 1, 2012, ask at the front desk of police headquarters or by mail with the report number and a $3 fee. Springfield also accepts a Citizen Crash Report for minor property-damage-only crashes inside the city. Ask the responding agency for its process and price before you pay.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Missouri

Stop and give your details at the scene

The scene duty is in RSMo 577.060.1: the operator of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury or death or damage to property of another person, who knows of the accident, must not leave the place of the injury, damage or accident without stopping and giving the other party or a law enforcement officer, or if no officer is in the vicinity, the nearest law enforcement agency: your name; your residence, including city and street number; the registration or license number of your vehicle; and your operator’s license number, if any. Leaving the scene is a class A misdemeanor; it is a class E felony if physical injury was caused to another party, if damage in excess of $1,000 was caused to the property of another person, or if you have a prior finding of guilt for leaving the scene, and a class D felony if a death resulted (RSMo 577.060.3). Officers may enter private property, when invited by an injured person, to investigate the accident (RSMo 577.060.2). Moving the vehicle: except in an accident resulting in injury or death, a driver whose vehicle for any reason obstructs the regular flow of traffic on the roadway of any state highway must make every reasonable effort to move the vehicle or have it moved; the infraction fine is $10 to $50 (RSMo 304.151). The Department of Revenue tells drivers to stop, move the vehicle if it may cause other drivers to have an accident and otherwise leave it until an officer says to move it, help anyone who is hurt, contact the police, exchange names, addresses, driver license numbers, vehicle identification, plate numbers and insurance details, and not leave until an officer says you may; that is the Department’s guidance, and the page cites no statute for the call to police. We found no state statute that requires every driver to call police after every crash: 577.060 requires you to give your details to the other party or to an officer, and to the nearest law enforcement agency only when no officer is in the vicinity. If the owner of a parked car or other damaged property is not there, an officer or the nearest law enforcement agency is the only recipient the statute leaves; we found no separate Missouri statute on striking an unattended vehicle. City ordinances can add a duty. The state’s Model Traffic Ordinance, which takes effect only in a city whose legislative body adopts it (RSMo 300.600), requires the driver in a crash within the city resulting in injury or death or total property damage to an apparent extent of $500 or more to one person to give notice to the police department as soon as reasonably possible (RSMo 300.110), and to forward a written report to the police department within 5 days unless an officer investigated at the scene while the driver was there (RSMo 300.115); if the driver is physically unable, another occupant gives the notice and the owner makes the written report (RSMo 300.120). Ask the city whether it has adopted these sections or a rule of its own. Local practice varies: the Springfield Police Department, for example, says that if you are in a minor traffic crash you are not necessarily obligated to call or wait for police, and that a Citizen Crash Report fits a crash inside the city limits with property damage to vehicles only, no injuries requiring immediate medical attention, no drinking or drug impairment, all vehicles operational and valid insurance for everyone. Police reports: every officer who investigates a crash resulting in injury or death, or total property damage to an apparent extent of $500 or more to one person, or who otherwise writes a report of the crash, must forward it to the superintendent of the Highway Patrol within 10 days after the investigation (RSMo 43.250).

The driver report you may have to file

DOR Form 1140 if any driver is uninsured

Missouri’s driver report is tied to insurance, not to every crash. Under RSMo 303.040.1, the operator or owner of every motor vehicle involved in an accident in Missouri with an uninsured motorist, on the streets or highways or on any publicly or privately owned parking lot or facility generally open to the public, in which any person is killed or injured or in which damage to the property of any one person, including the driver, in excess of five hundred dollars is sustained, and the owner or operator of any vehicle in an accident who does not carry motor vehicle liability insurance, must within thirty days after the accident report it in writing to the Director of Revenue. The form is the Department of Revenue’s Motor Vehicle Accident Report, Form 1140 (rev. 6-2006), available on the Department’s website, from your insurer, the Driver License Bureau or any license office. Mail it to Driver License Bureau, 301 West High Street, Room 470, PO Box 200, Jefferson City, MO 65105-0200, or fax it to (573) 526-7365; the form says a police report cannot be submitted instead. If the operator is physically incapable, the owner must report within 30 days after learning of the accident, and a late report because of incapability must include a doctor’s certificate (RSMo 303.040.1). Within 10 days of receiving a report, the Director notifies the other parties named in it, who then have 10 days to furnish the information requested (RSMo 303.040.2). If a party is a nonresident uninsured motorist, that operator or owner and any law enforcement agency responding to the crash must report it to the Director (RSMo 303.040.3). Penalty: failure to report as required by 303.040 is punishable by a fine of not more than $500, and if another person was injured or their property damaged, the Director must suspend the license of the person who failed to report until the report is filed or for up to one year (RSMo 303.370.1). The Department adds that if it mails you a notice to file a report, you have 10 days from the mail date, or your license or registration will be suspended. Conflict between official sources on the deadline: the statute says within thirty days, and the Department’s Missouri Driver Guide (Chapter 13) says “State law requires the accident report to be filed within 30 days.” But the Department’s accident information page lists “The accident happened less than one year ago” as one of the conditions for having to report, the same Driver Guide chapter repeats that condition, Form 1140 carries the checkbox “The accident happened within the last 12 months,” and the form says that when the damage or nine-month conditions for security are not met, the report must be mailed within one year of the accident date. Follow the statute and file within 30 days. The form also says the Department needs the report within nine months of the accident to determine fault and require security from the uninsured person, and asks you to allow up to 90 days for processing. If there was no uninsured driver, no report to the Department is required by 303.040.

What the report costs

Patrol $6.00; local agencies vary

Highway Patrol: $6.00 per basic crash report, effective October 1, 2023, paid online by card or by check or money order; a notary certification is $5.00 per request since August 1, 2024, and reconstruction reports, photographs and other materials cost extra at fees the Patrol does not list on its page (the Patrol’s boating crash form says to call the Patrol Records Division at 573-526-6113 for reconstruction and photo fees). Older Patrol pages still show $3.75, which is out of date. Local agencies set their own fees within the Sunshine Law: no more than 10 cents per page for standard paper copies, duplicating time at no more than the average hourly clerical rate, and actual research time, using the lowest-cost employees; you may ask for an estimate before copies are made, and the agency may waive or reduce fees in the public interest (RSMo 610.026.1(1)). The Missouri Supreme Court held that attorney review time may not be charged as research time (Gross v. Parson, 624 S.W.3d 877 (Mo. banc 2021), noted under 610.026). An agency may require payment before it fills the request, and since August 28, 2025 a request is treated as withdrawn if the fees are not paid within 90 days of the request for payment, or 150 days if the fees exceed $1,000 (RSMo 610.026.2). Example: Springfield charges $3 for its pre-2012 reports and sells newer ones through BuyCrash. Filing Form 1140 with the Department of Revenue: none of the Department’s pages we read mention a filing fee.

When the report is ready

Patrol: wait 10 days; expect a backlog

Officers must forward reports of crashes with injury, death or apparent property damage of $500 or more to one person to the Highway Patrol within 10 days after the investigation (RSMo 43.250). The Patrol says to wait 10 days from the date of the crash investigation before requesting its report, and warns that because of a backlog you may not receive it for an extended period. Its Troop E page says reports are normally available at that troop within 7 to 10 business days of the crash (the same page lists the outdated $3.75 fee). Local example: Springfield says to allow 7 to 10 business days before its report appears on BuyCrash. Under the Sunshine Law a custodian must act on a request no later than the end of the third business day after receiving it, or explain the delay and give the earliest date the record will be available (RSMo 610.023.3); if you were involved and the agency is withholding a closed record, it has 30 days to give it to you or go to court (RSMo 610.100.4). Retention: the Secretary of State’s Police Clerks Records Retention Schedule (August 2024 edition) sets a minimum of 7 years for accident reports in felony cases and 5 years for all others for local police (item POL 003). We found no published retention period for Highway Patrol crash reports.

Who can get a copy

Open record; parties get a full copy

Every law enforcement agency must keep records of incidents reported to it, and all incident reports and arrest reports are open records (RSMo 610.100.2(1)); an incident report is the date, time, specific location, name of the victim and immediate facts and circumstances of the initial report, including logs of reported accidents (RSMo 610.100.1(4)). Agencies may withhold parts: the Missouri Court of Appeals held that license plate numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, and month and date of birth of the parties in vehicular incident reports are not open records and may be redacted (State ex rel. Goodman v. St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners, 181 S.W.3d 156 (Mo. App. E.D. 2005), noted under 610.100), and any part that would endanger a victim, witness or other person or jeopardize a criminal investigation must be redacted (RSMo 610.100.3). If you were involved in the incident or your property was, you, your attorney or your insurer (or a parent or guardian of a minor, or a first-degree family member if the person died or is incompetent) may, on written request, obtain a complete, unaltered and unedited incident report, and may obtain other records the agency has closed under 610.100, for purposes of investigating a civil claim or defense; within 30 days the agency must provide them or file a motion in circuit court saying a person’s safety cannot reasonably be ensured or a criminal investigation is likely to be jeopardized (RSMo 610.100.4). The Attorney General’s Sunshine Law guide says this generally entitles motorists involved in a crash to the accident report even while charges are under review with the prosecutor. The Highway Patrol applies the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act: its boating crash request form (SHP-844E) says requesters who do not meet a listed purpose, such as being a party involved, an insurer handling a claim, or use in a court proceeding, receive a copy with personal information redacted. We could not view the Patrol’s online traffic crash request form without creating an account, so confirm its criteria there.

What to do now

1. 1

   Find out which agency worked the crash

   Get the agency name and report number from the officer. Highway Patrol reports come from the Patrol; city and county reports come from that department.

2. 2

   Request the Patrol report after 10 days

   Use the Patrol’s online Public Records Center and pay $6.00 by card, or mail a check or money order. Expect delays from its backlog.

3. 3

   File Form 1140 if a driver was uninsured

   If anyone was hurt or killed or one person’s damage exceeds $500, report the crash to the Department of Revenue within 30 days.

4. 4

   Ask in writing for the full report

   If you were involved, cite RSMo 610.100.4 and ask for the complete, unaltered report. The agency must provide it or go to court within 30 days.

Frequently asked questions