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

The public records law that gets you the video

Kansas Open Records Act (KORA), K.S.A. 45-215 to 45-223

Act within 3 business days, not produce

A public record is any recorded information, regardless of form, made, kept or possessed by a public agency (K.S.A. 45-217(l)), and all public records are open for inspection by any person unless the Act provides otherwise (K.S.A. 45-216(a), 45-218(a)). How to ask: an agency may require a written request but not any particular form, and may ask only for your name and address, enough information to identify the records, your right of access, and proof of identity; no request may be returned, delayed or denied over a technicality unless the records cannot be identified (K.S.A. 45-220(b)). If you ask the wrong person, they must tell you who and where the custodian is, if known (§ 45-218(c)). Deadline: the agency must act on the request as soon as possible and no later than the end of the third business day after receiving it; if it does not give access at once, it must give a detailed explanation of the delay and the place and earliest time and date the record will be available; if it denies the request, it must give you on request a written statement citing the specific law relied on, within three business days of that request (§ 45-218(d)). The Attorney General’s July 2026 Citizen’s Guide says the three days is a deadline to communicate, not to hand over the records, and there is no fixed deadline for production. An agency may refuse a request that places an unreasonable burden on it or that it believes is meant to disrupt its work, but must prove that by a preponderance of the evidence (§ 45-218(e)). Video copies: “A public agency shall not be required to provide copies of radio or recording tapes or discs, video tapes or films, pictures,” or similar audio or visual items unless they were shown or played at a public meeting of its governing body (§ 45-219(a)); the Attorney General’s KORA FAQ adds that access to such items must still be provided if they are public records not covered by an exception. Fees (§ 45-219(c), as amended by 2025 House Bill 2134): reasonable fees no higher than the actual cost of furnishing the records, including staff time and the cost to review and redact, but no unrelated incidental costs; staff time at the lowest-cost category of staff reasonably necessary, based on salary or hourly wage without benefits; an itemized statement on request; advance payment may be required (§ 45-218(f)). If staff time will exceed five hours or cost more than $200, the agency must try to talk with you about reducing the cost, and if you do not respond by the end of the third business day, the request is treated as withdrawn until you get back in touch (§ 45-219(e)). The Act sets no separate fee for video. The Attorney General’s guide says redacting information that the law requires to be closed is a chargeable cost, but redacting information the agency closes by choice under the discretionary exemptions is not.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Closed record; subjects may view

Every audio or video recording made and retained by law enforcement using a body camera or a vehicle camera is a criminal investigation record (K.S.A. 45-254(a), 45-217(e)(1)), which the agency may decline to disclose under the Open Records Act (K.S.A. 45-221(a)(10)). This applies to crash video even though other records about traffic law violations, except vehicular homicide, are not criminal investigation records (§ 45-217(e)(2)). The Kansas Highway Patrol’s KORA brochure lists “Car Camera or Body worn Camera videos” among records protected from disclosure. Right to view (§ 45-254(b) to (d)): in addition to anything the Open Records Act allows, a person who is a subject of the recording, a parent or legal guardian of a subject under 18, an heir at law when a subject has died (an executor or administrator of the estate, the living spouse, an adult child if there is no living spouse, or a parent if there is neither), and an attorney for any of them may request, under the agency’s KORA procedures, to listen to the audio or view the video recorded by a body camera or vehicle camera. The agency “shall allow” that within 20 days after the request and may charge a reasonable fee for the service. The statute gives a right to view or listen, not a right to a copy; for a copy, also ask under the Open Records Act, keeping in mind that § 45-219(a) does not require agencies to copy video. A “body camera” is a device worn by an officer that records audio or video of the officer’s activities, and a “vehicle camera” is one attached to a law enforcement vehicle (§ 45-254(d)). We found no Kansas statute setting a retention period for body camera or dashcam video as such. The Open Records Act itself requires no retention (K.S.A. 45-216(b)); Kansas’s records preservation law bars state agencies and counties from destroying records before the periods in retention schedules approved by the State Records Board, while for cities and other local agencies those schedules are only recommendations (K.S.A. 45-403, 45-404(b)), and we did not check what period the schedules set for video. So make your request quickly and in writing. The Attorney General’s KORA FAQ says the Act itself gives crime victims and defendants no special status for criminal investigation records; the § 45-254 viewing right is separate from that.

When police can hold video back

Agency may close; court can order out

Criminal investigation records, which include all body and vehicle camera recordings, are among the records an agency is not required to disclose (K.S.A. 45-221(a)(10)). The closure is discretionary: the Attorney General’s KORA FAQ says criminal investigation records “may be discretionarily closed” and that the factors to be weighed basically balance the public interest in disclosure against the harm of disclosure. If an agency closes a record under this exemption, the custodian must, on request, give a written citation to the specific factors in subparagraphs (A) to (F) that require closure (§ 45-221(a)(10)). A district court, in an action under K.S.A. 45-222, may order disclosure, on conditions it sets, if it finds that disclosure is in the public interest, would not interfere with any prospective law enforcement action, criminal investigation or prosecution, would not reveal a confidential source or undercover agent or confidential investigative techniques, would not endanger anyone’s life or safety, and would not identify a victim of a sexual offense (§ 45-221(a)(10)(A) to (F)). The Attorney General’s FAQ, quoting the Kansas Supreme Court, says “public interest” means a matter affecting a right or expectancy of the community at large, and that mere curiosity is not enough. The statute sets no point at which the exemption ends; the Attorney General’s FAQ says the closure power also protects the ability to take future enforcement action on a “cold-case,” so closure can continue after a case goes quiet. The § 45-254 right of subjects to view the recording within 20 days is not conditioned on the investigation being over. Separately, an agency must still release the non-exempt parts of a record after removing what is closed (§ 45-221(d)).

Do traffic cameras in Kansas record?

No KDOT statement on recording found

The Kansas Department of Transportation’s KanDrive page says the system lets you “view live footage from highway cameras across the state.” We found no KDOT, KanDrive or KC Scout page (KC Scout is the Kansas City area’s bi-state traffic management system; its site carries the KDOT and Missouri Department of Transportation names) that says whether camera video is recorded or kept. If you think a state highway camera caught your crash, ask KDOT right away under the Open Records Act using its online General Request Form on the Open Records page; KDOT says most records are produced within three business days, it usually sends records electronically, it charges nothing for the first one hundred pages of paper copies under Executive Order 18-05, and it will tell you first if fees will exceed $100. Cities run their own traffic cameras: for example, Overland Park police say to request “traffic camera footage” along with photos and witness statements through the city’s open records portal. Remember that the Act does not require an agency to provide copies of video unless it was shown at a public meeting (K.S.A. 45-219(a)). License plate reader data and the locations of plate reader systems may be withheld (K.S.A. 45-221(a)(55)).

Red-light and speed cameras

No state law found authorizing them

We found no Kansas statute that authorizes red-light, speed or school bus stop-arm cameras. The Kansas Legislative Research Department’s briefing “Traffic Enforcement Using Cameras” (2023, updated January 2025) says “Kansas law is silent on the use of cameras to enforce any statutes included in the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways or similar city ordinances,” and that bills to authorize cameras on school buses were introduced but not enacted in 2016, 2017 to 2018, 2019 to 2020 and 2021 to 2022. We searched the 2025 and 2026 Session Laws of Kansas and found no act authorizing traffic enforcement cameras. The same briefing notes that toll agencies, including the Kansas Turnpike Authority, use video enforcement for toll collection; ask the Authority if a toll camera may have caught your crash. Because no statute sets up camera programs, none sets rules on who may see their images; any video an agency holds is a public record governed by the Open Records Act.

If your request is denied

Court, county attorney or the AG

The Open Records Act has no administrative appeal of a denial. First, ask the agency for a written statement citing the specific law it relied on, which it must give within three business days of your request (K.S.A. 45-218(d)), and, for criminal investigation records such as police video, a written citation to the factors it relied on (K.S.A. 45-221(a)(10)). Every agency must designate a local freedom of information officer, whose duties include helping the public and the agency resolve open records disputes (K.S.A. 45-226). Then you have three options, the Attorney General’s guide says: (1) Court: any person may sue in the district court of the county where the records are kept, for an injunction, mandamus or other order (K.S.A. 45-222(a)). The court decides the matter anew, may view the records privately, and the agency has the burden of proving its action was proper; the court must award you costs and a reasonable attorney’s fee if it finds the denial was not in good faith and without a reasonable basis in fact or law, and must award the agency its fees if you sued not in good faith and without a reasonable basis (§ 45-222(b) to (e)). (2) A complaint to the county or district attorney, who may investigate and sue (K.S.A. 45-222, 45-228). (3) A complaint to the Attorney General, which must be made on the Attorney General’s form and attested under penalty of perjury (K.S.A. 45-252). The Attorney General may investigate, and may enter a consent order with a civil penalty of up to $250 per violation or issue a finding of violation with a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation, training and an order to comply (K.S.A. 45-251(a)); a court may impose up to $500 per knowing violation in a suit by the Attorney General or a county or district attorney (K.S.A. 45-223). The Attorney General’s complaint page says an investigation may take three to four weeks or several months, that the office cannot act as your lawyer, and that Kansas law limits how long you have to bring your own lawsuit; we found no deadline stated in the Act itself. Fees charged by a state executive branch agency may be appealed to the secretary of administration, whose decision is final (§ 45-219(d)). You may want to ask a lawyer before going to court.

What to do now

1. 1

   Ask to view the police video

   If you were in the recording, write to the agency asking to view or listen to the body camera and dashcam video under K.S.A. 45-254. It must allow that within 20 days of your request and may charge a reasonable fee.

2. 2

   Ask for copies under KORA too

   In the same letter, request copies under the Kansas Open Records Act, naming the date, time, place and case number. The agency must act within three business days.

3. 3

   Ask the city and KDOT right away

   Send open records requests for any city traffic camera and KDOT highway camera that faced the crash. We found no official statement on how long that video is kept.

4. 4

   Denied? Ask for the legal basis

   Request the written citation the law requires, then consider the local freedom of information officer, a complaint to the county attorney or Attorney General, or district court.

5. 5

   Look for private footage now

   Police video may stay closed while a case is open. Post the crash on the bounty board: nearby dashcams often hold the only footage of what happened.

Frequently asked questions