How to get a car accident report in Wyoming

Where to get the report

• WYDOT Highway Safety (statewide) $3.00 a report; phone, email or mail

  WYDOT says its Office of Data Quality Control and Assurance is the “keeper” of the crash reports and that “We collect all crash reports from all law enforcement agencies throughout Wyoming.” Request a report from Highway Safety by phone at (307) 777-4450, by email to crash.records@wyo.gov, or by mail to Wyoming Department of Transportation, Attention: Highway Safety, 5300 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY 82009, saying whether you want the report by paper copy, email or fax. WYDOT asks for the case number if you have it, the law enforcement agency that worked the crash, the name and date of birth of a person involved, the date of the crash, the VIN of a vehicle involved, and your email address and phone number. Its Requesting Crash Reports page says “There is a $3.00 charge for crash reports, + a $2.50 service fee if you’re using a credit card,” that WYDOT also accepts money orders or checks payable to WYDOT by mail or at the Cheyenne office, and that payment is due at the time of request. WYDOT’s main Crash Reports page does not repeat the fee or link to the request page, and we found no WYDOT rule that sets the charge, so confirm it when you call. WYDOT holds a report only if an officer investigated and sent it in; officers must send one for crashes with injury, death or a vehicle too disabled to drive normally and safely (31-5-1106(c)).

  Official page

• Wyoming Highway Patrol crashes (through WYDOT) Crash reports from WYDOT; other records

  The Wyoming Highway Patrol’s Public Records page says to obtain copies of a crash report in person at the Cheyenne WYDOT office, 5300 Bishop Blvd., by calling Highway Safety at (307) 777-4450, or by mail to WYDOT, Attention: Highway Safety. For all Highway Patrol public records requests and inquiries, “including to request a copy of a citation or case report,” it links its online records portal (wyhighwaypatrol.nextrequest.com), which asks for the WHP incident number and lists a “Crash Incident Report Request” option. The Patrol’s contact list gives Accident Records at (307) 777-4450 and WHP Records at (307) 777-4313.

  Official page

• City police and county sheriffs (example: Casper, Cheyenne, Jackson) Ask the agency; WYDOT also has copies

  Inside a city, the driver’s notice goes to the city police, and outside cities to the Highway Patrol or the county sheriff (31-5-1105(a)), so the agency that responded may hold its own copy. Local agencies set their own fees, which must be authorized by statute, rule, resolution, ordinance or similar authority (W.S. 16-4-204(c)). Examples from each agency’s own page: the Casper Police Department charges no fee for an emailed accident report and $3.00 for a paper copy, says the listed requestor must pick up a report in person, says it releases records within 30 calendar days of acknowledged receipt unless good cause exists, and also points to WYDOT for accident reports. The Cheyenne Police Department says it “maintains accident reports only when the damage to a vehicle is less than $1000 and there was no bodily injury,” sends all other requests to WYDOT, and takes records requests only through its online portal. The Jackson Police Department’s State Accident Reports page sends you to WYDOT and says to mail a “$15 check or money order” payable to WYDOT, which does not match the $3.00 on WYDOT’s own page; ask WYDOT for its current fee before you pay. For any other city or county, ask the agency that responded what it can release.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Wyoming

Injury, death or disabled car: police

Immediate notice (W.S. 31-5-1105): the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident “shall immediately by the quickest means of communication give notice of the accident” to the local police department if the accident occurs within a municipality, or to the nearest office of the state highway patrol or to the office of the county sheriff. The duty applies only if the accident results in “(i) Injury to or death of any person; or (ii) Property damage to the extent the vehicle, excluding bicycles or any other vehicle moved solely by human power, is so disabled as to prevent its normal and safe operation” (31-5-1105(b)). There is no dollar threshold: 2025 House Bill 25 (Enrolled Act No. 1, effective July 1, 2025) struck the old alternative of “property damage to another or others to an apparent extent of at least one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).” For a crash before July 1, 2025, the old 31-5-1105 required the same immediate notice for injury or death, for that $1,000.00 of apparent damage to others’ property, or for any vehicle (other than a bicycle or other human-powered vehicle) so disabled as to prevent its normal and safe operation. WYDOT’s Crash Reports page describes the same rule as notice to “the local police department, the county sheriff and/or State Law Enforcement.” If the driver is physically incapable of giving notice and another occupant of the vehicle is capable, the occupant must give it (31-5-1107(b)). Stop and remain: in a crash that injures or kills anyone, the driver must immediately stop at or as close as possible to the scene, return to it, and remain until the duties in 31-5-1103 are met (31-5-1101(a)); in a crash that damages only a vehicle or other property that is driven or attended by someone, the driver must stop and remain until the same duties are met (31-5-1102). Those duties (31-5-1103): give your name, address and the registration number of the vehicle you are driving, and on request and if available show your driver’s license, to the person injured, the driver, occupant or person attending the damaged vehicle or property, and any police officer at the scene or investigating; and give any injured person reasonable assistance, including carrying them or arranging for them to be carried to a physician, surgeon or hospital if treatment is apparently necessary or they ask. Unattended vehicle or property (31-5-1104): stop, and either find and tell the operator or owner your name, address and registration number, or securely attach a written notice with that information in a conspicuous place in or on the vehicle or property. You may not give information in an oral or written report under these sections “knowing or having reason to believe that the information is false” (31-5-1108(e)). Penalties: failing to stop or comply in an injury or death crash carries up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $5,000.00, or both (31-5-1101(b)); failing to stop or comply in a crash with an attended vehicle or property is a misdemeanor (31-5-1102). A violation of the chapter with no other penalty is a misdemeanor punished, for a first conviction, by a fine of up to $200.00 (31-5-1201(a), (b)).

The driver report you may have to file

None statewide; cities may require

Wyoming does not require drivers to file their own written crash report with WYDOT. The state duty is the immediate notice to police in W.S. 31-5-1105, and the officer who investigates then reports to WYDOT (31-5-1106(c)). A city may, by ordinance, require the driver or owner of a vehicle involved in a crash to file a report of the crash, or a copy of any report filed with WYDOT, with a designated city department, and any such report “shall be without prejudice to the individual so reporting” (31-5-1111(a)); ask the police department where you crashed. Example from its own page: the Cheyenne Police Department offers a Delayed Accident Report form, which it says “is not a police report but rather a form that allows driver and vehicle information to be exchanged.” Insurance: within 30 days after WYDOT receives an investigating officer’s crash report, the division must suspend the Wyoming license and registrations (or nonresident driving privilege) of each driver and owner involved unless “the driver, the owner or both file proof of financial responsibility” (31-9-202(a), (b)). This is not automatic for insured drivers: the exceptions below apply, and the insurer that issued the policy must file a written notice with the division that the policy was in effect (31-9-202(e)). The suspension does not apply, among other exceptions, to an owner who had an automobile liability policy on the vehicle at the time of the crash, to a driver covered by a policy or bond for driving vehicles he does not own, to a crash that caused no injury or damage to anyone other than the driver or owner, or to a vehicle that was legally parked (31-9-202(c), 31-9-203(a)). A person is considered to have filed proof of financial responsibility whenever a search of the online insurance verification system shows it (31-9-110). Supplemental information filed with a crash report for the security or financial responsibility laws is confidential, except that a person named in it or that person’s written representative may examine it (31-5-1110(b)).

What the report costs

WYDOT $3.00 (+$2.50 card); local vary

No Wyoming statute sets a crash report fee, and we found no WYDOT rule that does. WYDOT’s Requesting Crash Reports page lists “a $3.00 charge for crash reports, + a $2.50 service fee if you’re using a credit card”; checks and money orders payable to WYDOT are also accepted, and payment is due when you ask. A local agency charges for its own records under the Public Records Act: copies are furnished “for a reasonable fee to be set by the official custodian,” no fee may be charged for inspection alone, and since July 1, 2003 any fee must first be authorized by a statute, rule, resolution, ordinance, executive order or similar authority (W.S. 16-4-204(a), (c)). Example from its own page: Casper Police charge nothing for an emailed accident report, $3.00 for a paper copy and $5.00 per incident for an incident report. Jackson Police’s page still names a $15 check to WYDOT, so confirm the fee with WYDOT at (307) 777-4450 first.

When the report is ready

Officer: 10 days after investigating

Every police officer who investigates a motor vehicle accident must forward a written report to WYDOT “within ten (10) days after his investigation of the accident” if it resulted in bodily injury or death, or in property damage to the extent the vehicle is so disabled as to prevent its normal and safe operation, either at the scene or after it was moved, when the officer is told by participants or witnesses that it no longer runs (W.S. 31-5-1106(c)). We found no WYDOT statement of how soon after that a report can be released, so call Highway Safety at (307) 777-4450. Local agencies answering under the Public Records Act must release a readily available record immediately, so long as that does not impair their other duties, and all public records within 30 calendar days of acknowledged receipt of the request unless good cause exists, in which case on a date you and the agency agree (16-4-202(c)). Retention: the Wyoming State Archives’ State Agency schedule (for state agencies such as WYDOT and the Highway Patrol) and its Local Government schedule (for cities and counties) both list Accidents and Incidents records (series PSS-LAE-02, “Retain 10 years after completion then destroy”) and Vehicular Homicide Crash Reports (PSS-LAE-16, “Retain permanently”).

Who can get a copy

No statute limits who may ask

We found no Wyoming statute or WYDOT page that limits who may request a crash report, and the Public Records Act opens public records “for inspection by any person” except as the act or other law provides (W.S. 16-4-202(a)); WYDOT asks for identifying details (case number, a name and date of birth, crash date, VIN) so it can find the report. Agencies may still withhold or redact parts: the custodian must deny medical, psychological and sociological data on individual persons (16-4-203(d)(i)), and may deny investigatory files compiled for law enforcement or prosecution purposes when disclosure would be contrary to the public interest (16-4-203(b)(i)). Example from its own page: Casper Police say reports are redacted under department policy and Wyoming law, that the listed requestor must pick up the report in person, and that a parent or guardian requesting a report involving a juvenile must bring a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate and photo ID. Supplemental insurance information filed with a report is confidential except to a person named in it or that person’s written representative (31-5-1110(b)). Crash reports forwarded to WYDOT may not be used as evidence in a civil or criminal trial arising out of the crash, except in prosecutions for false reports, but on demand of a party or a court WYDOT must furnish a certificate showing whether a report was made and, if so, its date, time and location, the names and addresses of the drivers and owners, and the investigating officers (31-5-1110(c)).

What to do now

1. 1

   Call police if the law requires it

   If anyone is hurt or killed, or a vehicle is too disabled to drive normally and safely, notify city police, or outside a city the Highway Patrol or sheriff, right away.

2. 2

   Get the agency and case number

   Ask the officer which agency is writing the report and for the case number. WYDOT also asks for a name and date of birth, the crash date and a VIN.

3. 3

   Request it from WYDOT

   Call Highway Safety at (307) 777-4450 or email crash.records@wyo.gov. WYDOT lists $3.00 per report, plus $2.50 if you pay by card.

4. 4

   Ask the local agency if WYDOT has none

   A crash with no injury and no disabled vehicle may have only a local report, or none. Ask the police department or sheriff that responded.

Frequently asked questions