How to get police and traffic camera video of a crash in Alabama

The public records law that gets you the video

Alabama Open Records Act, Ala. Code §§ 36-12-40 to 36-12-47

10 business days, then 15 (extendable)

Every resident has a right to inspect and take a copy of any public record of the state, except as otherwise expressly provided by law; security-related records whose public disclosure could reasonably be expected to be detrimental to public safety or welfare, and records “the disclosure of which would otherwise be detrimental to the best interests of the public,” are exempt (Ala. Code § 36-12-40(a)). A resident is an individual permanently domiciled in Alabama with an expectation to remain, shown for example by an Alabama driver license or voter registration (§ 36-12-43(b)(3)); the officer may ask for reasonable proof of residency and may, but need not, answer requests from nonresidents (§ 36-12-44(f)), and the statutory standard request form ends with your certification that you are an Alabama resident with standing to make the request (§ 36-12-45(b)(3)). Procedure since October 1, 2024 (Act 2024-278): the officer may require you to use its standard request form or written procedures and need not answer a request that does not follow them (§§ 36-12-44(a)(1), 36-12-45(a)(3)); a request must identify the record with reasonable specificity, and a vague, overly broad or unreasonable one need not be answered (§ 36-12-44(c)). Deadlines for a standard request (one taking less than eight hours of staff time): acknowledge within 10 business days of receiving it, then give a substantive response fulfilling or denying it within 15 business days of the acknowledgment, which the officer may extend in 15-business-day increments by written notice (§ 36-12-44(a)(3), (4)). A time-intensive request (more than eight hours) gets an acknowledgment within 10 business days, notice within 15 business days after that with likely fees and a chance to narrow it, and a substantive response within 45 business days after you elect to proceed, extendable in 45-business-day increments (§ 36-12-44(b)). A request for clarification stops the clock and restarts it as if new (§ 36-12-44(g)). The officer need not create a record (§ 36-12-44(d)). Fees: copies are provided on payment of a reasonable fee (§ 36-12-41); the officer sets the fee, must tell you the estimate, may withhold records until you pay and may require payment before searching (§ 36-12-44(a)(2)). The Act sets no per-page or video price. Example, ALDOT only: a $20.00 research and retrieval fee before any substantive response, plus copy costs. Example, ALEA only: a non-refundable minimum fee of $20.00 per request. Important if you plan a claim: the Act may not be used by a party to a pending or threatened lawsuit to get information relevant to it in place of proper discovery under the court rules (§ 36-12-46). The judicial branch and the constitutional executive offices in Article VI of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022 are exempt from the new procedures in §§ 36-12-43 to 36-12-45 (§ 36-12-40(b)).

Police body camera and dashcam video

View only, if you are on the video

Alabama has a specific statute for police recordings, Act 2023-507 (Ala. Code §§ 36-21-210 to 36-21-214, effective September 1, 2023). It covers body-worn camera, dashboard camera and any other video or audio recording made by or for a law enforcement agency while carrying out its duties, but not recordings of internal affairs interviews or interviews and interrogations of suspects or witnesses (§ 36-21-210(1), (3), (6)). Such recordings are not personnel records (§ 36-21-211). Who may see it: recordings in an agency’s custody “shall be disclosed to an individual or personal representative only as provided by this article” (§ 36-21-212(a)), and the agency may disclose only to a person whose image or voice is the subject of the recording, or that person’s personal representative (a parent, court-appointed guardian, spouse or attorney, with the adult’s consent when the person recorded is a competent adult, and for a deceased person the estate’s representative, surviving spouse, parent or adult child, attorney, or the parent or guardian of a surviving minor child) (§§ 36-21-210(5), 36-21-212(c)). “Disclose” means making the recording available to view or hear at a time and place the agency chooses; it does not include releasing a copy (§ 36-21-210(4), (7)). How to ask: a written request to the head of the agency that holds it, giving the date and approximate time or otherwise identifying the activity with reasonable particularity (§ 36-21-212(a)). The agency must, “as promptly as possible,” either show you the portion relevant to your request or tell you it will not, and it may refuse if disclosure would affect an ongoing active investigation or prosecution (§§ 36-21-212(d), 36-21-213(a)); it may charge a reasonable fee for redaction and editing (§ 36-21-213(b)); and you may not record or copy what you are shown (§ 36-21-212(e)). The article does not limit subpoenas under the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, including Rule 45, or Chapter 21 of Title 12 (§ 36-21-212(b)). Copies: the article gives no right to a copy. Example, ALEA only: its Request to View Audio/Video Recording form (send to VideoRequest@alea.gov, one form per person) covers only recordings by state troopers or SBI agents, says approved viewings happen in person at ALEA headquarters in Montgomery, and says that to receive a copy you must complete a public records request or file a subpoena with the trial court clerk; ALEA’s public records portal says body camera video and other investigative material must be subpoenaed. Example, Opelika Police Department only: it charges $25.00 for each copy of a video recording, as part of a case file that must first be approved for release. Retention: recordings must be kept at least as long as the applicable records disposition schedule requires (§ 36-21-214). For city and county agencies, the Local Government Records Commission’s schedule (approved April 22, 2026) says body, vest and dash camera recordings that become part of a case file follow the case file; recordings subject to a received complaint or records request are kept 6 months or until it is resolved, whichever is longer; and all others are kept 3 months.

When police can hold video back

Investigative files closed by statute

Alabama’s rule is stricter than most. “Law enforcement investigative reports and related investigative material are not public records,” and investigative reports, records, field notes, witness statements “and other investigative writings or recordings are privileged communications protected from disclosure” (Ala. Code § 12-21-3.1(b)). Neither those reports nor an officer’s testimony may be reached by a civil or administrative subpoena except under subsection (c), which lets a party in a civil case, on motion and court order, get photographs, documents and tangible evidence for examination and copying on proof by substantial evidence of undue hardship and that the material is unavailable from other reasonable sources, and never anything a criminal defendant could not discover (§ 12-21-3.1(a), (c)). Discovery orders before the criminal matter is disposed of are not favored (§ 12-21-3.1(d)). For that section, a criminal matter is disposed of when a grand jury returns a no bill or true bill, when the chief law enforcement officer of the investigating agency states in writing that the investigation is closed, or when the case has been tried and final judgment entered (§ 12-21-3.1(f)); the statute does not say that investigative material becomes a public record after that. The body camera article separately lets an agency refuse to show you a recording if that would affect an ongoing active investigation or prosecution (§ 36-21-213(a)(2)), and the Open Records Act exempts records whose disclosure would be detrimental to the best interests of the public (§ 36-12-40(a)). Example, ALEA only: its records portal says body camera video and other investigative material must be subpoenaed. Example, Opelika Police Department only: a case under active investigation or pending in court will not be made available to the public. A crash report itself is governed by its own statute (§ 32-10-7), so you can usually still buy it while video is withheld.

Do traffic cameras in Alabama record?

ALDOT: not recorded or stored

The Alabama Department of Transportation answers this directly. Its News Hub FAQ, under “How do I get video from a traffic camera owned and maintained by ALDOT?”, says: “ALDOT does not record or store footage from its traffic cameras,” and that the cameras are designed to help ALDOT manage traffic in real time, including detecting crashes and congestion so it can coordinate with law enforcement and first responders. The live feeds appear on ALGO Traffic (algotraffic.com), which ALDOT describes as part of its Intelligent Transportation Systems providing real-time traffic data, sponsored by ALDOT and ALEA. So a records request to ALDOT for highway camera video of your crash is unlikely to find any. If you still want to ask, ALDOT takes public records requests on its form by email to public.records@dot.state.al.us, by mail to its Legal Bureau, 1409 Coliseum Boulevard, Montgomery, AL 36110, or by fax to (334) 264-4359, with a $20.00 research and retrieval fee. City and county traffic or intersection cameras are separate systems with their own practices; ask that city or county in writing right away.

Red-light and speed cameras

Local acts only; no statewide law

We found no Alabama general law that authorizes red-light or speed cameras statewide. Instead the Legislature has passed local acts for named places, codified in Title 45: red-light (traffic signal) cameras for Montgomery (Ala. Code § 45-51A-35.20 and following, Act 2009-740), Selma (§ 45-24A-32, Act 2010-741), Opelika (§ 45-41A-41, Act 2011-524), Midfield (§ 45-37A-331, Act 2011-569), Phenix City (§ 45-57A-64.50, Act 2012-326), and automated traffic safety systems covering traffic signals, stop signs and speed for Center Point (§ 45-37A-100, Act 2013-228) and Bessemer (§ 45-37A-42, Act 2016-323); and speed cameras for Midfield (§ 45-37A-331.33, Act 2014-426), Brantley (§ 45-21A-10.02, Act 2015-20), Kinston (§ 45-16A-40.02, Act 2025-208), and municipalities in Escambia County in school and construction zones (§ 45-27-210.01, Act 2026-485, effective October 1, 2026). These acts authorize a program by ordinance; we did not confirm which cities run cameras today. The notice of violation goes to the vehicle owner and includes a copy of the recorded images (for example, Montgomery, § 45-51A-35.24(b)(3)); we found no provision in these acts on public access to the images, so a crash victim would ask the city under the Open Records Act. Work zones: the Alabama Work Zone Safety Act (Act 2026-475, §§ 32-5A-370 to 32-5A-387) creates a pilot for one interstate work zone in which ALDOT or the toll authority may install automated speed cameras and ALEA may use manually operated ones, with civil citations mailed to the owner for speeds more than 10 mph over the limit; ALDOT and ALEA had to finalize an implementation plan by October 1, 2026, the plan must ensure that full enforcement does not begin sooner than November 16, 2026, and §§ 32-5A-370 to 32-5A-387 will be repealed on September 30, 2028 (§§ 32-5A-371, 32-5A-372(8), 32-5A-376, 32-5A-390). School buses: a school board may use stop-arm cameras, recordings that show no violation must be destroyed within 90 days, and photo and video evidence is available to a third party other than the alleged violator “pursuant only to a valid court order” (§§ 16-27A-3, 16-27A-4(c), (d)).

If your request is denied

Act names no appeal body; court remains

The Open Records Act creates no administrative appeal and names no state office that reviews denials; we found none. What the 2024 amendments do is let you treat silence as a denial: a proper standard request is presumed denied if there is no substantive response within the earlier of 30 business days or 60 calendar days after acknowledgment, or no production within the earlier of 30 business days or 60 calendar days after you pay the estimated fees (Ala. Code § 36-12-44(a)(5)); for a time-intensive request the limits are the earlier of 180 business days or 270 calendar days (§ 36-12-44(b)(6)). There is no presumption of denial if the officer has responded in part, you have agreed on timing or substance, negotiations are ongoing, or the officer has reasonably communicated the status (§ 36-12-44(a)(6), (b)(7)). The Act itself does not describe a court remedy or set a deadline for one, and we cite no case law on challenging a denial; if you want to contest one, that is the point at which you may want to ask a lawyer. For police video, the body camera article keeps court subpoenas available (§ 36-21-212(b)), and in a civil case a court may order production of investigative photographs and evidence on the showing § 12-21-3.1(c) requires. Because local agencies need keep unrequested camera video only 3 months, but 6 months or until resolved once a records request is received, send a written request first and early.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send a written request to the agency now

   Write to the head of the police agency that worked the crash, give the date, approximate time and location, and say you are on the recording. Under the local records schedule, video subject to a received records request is kept 6 months or until the request is resolved, whichever is longer.

2. 2

   Ask to view, and ask how to get a copy

   The 2023 law gives you a viewing, not a copy. Ask in the same letter whether the agency will sell a copy under the Open Records Act; some require a subpoena.

3. 3

   Trooper video goes to ALEA

   For a crash worked by state troopers, email the Request to View Audio/Video Recording form to VideoRequest@alea.gov. Viewings are at ALEA headquarters in Montgomery.

4. 4

   Do not count on ALDOT cameras

   ALDOT says its traffic cameras are not recorded or stored. Ask any city that runs intersection cameras right away.

5. 5

   Post the crash on the bounty board

   Dashcam and business camera footage is not in any public agency’s files and is often overwritten within days.

Frequently asked questions