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

The public records law that gets you the video

Tennessee Public Records Act, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 10-7-501 et seq.

Promptly, or answer in 7 business days

A public record is any document, photograph, film, sound recording, electronic file “or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics,” made or received in connection with official business by any governmental entity (Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(1)(A)), so police and agency video is covered. All state, county and city records are open for personal inspection by any citizen of Tennessee unless state law provides otherwise (§ 10-7-503(a)(2)(A)). Since July 1, 2026, a person who is not a Tennessee citizen may inspect or get a copy of a law enforcement record or report pertaining solely to that person by submitting a written request identifying the record, a copy of a valid government photo ID and a signed affidavit that the record pertains solely to the requester; this does not open records that are otherwise confidential or privileged under Rule 16 or the investigative privilege (§ 10-7-503(i), Public Chapter 711 of 2026). Deadline: the custodian must promptly make a nonexempt record available, and if that is not practicable, must within seven business days make it available, deny the request in writing (or on the Office of Open Records Counsel’s response form) with the basis for the denial, or tell you in writing the time reasonably necessary to produce it; no response counts as a denial you may take to court (§ 10-7-503(a)(2)(B), (a)(3)). Confidential information must be redacted where possible and the rest released (§ 10-7-503(a)(5)). How to ask: viewing a record is free and needs no written request, and you may ask in person, by phone, email or mail, or through the agency’s portal; an agency may require a request for copies to be in writing or on a form, and may require a government photo ID with your address (§ 10-7-503(a)(7)(A)). The request must be detailed enough for the agency to identify the records (§ 10-7-503(a)(4)). Fees: the custodian may charge reasonable costs for copies under the Office of Open Records Counsel’s schedule and must give you an estimate first (§§ 10-7-503(a)(7)(B), 8-4-604). The statute sets no video-specific fee. The schedule allows up to 15 cents a page for black and white copies and 50 cents for color, the actual cost of a flash drive or similar device, the cost of an outside vendor when the agency cannot produce copies itself, and labor (including time spent reviewing and redacting) only beyond the first hour, at the lowest practicable employee wage; agencies may charge less or waive fees under their own adopted policy. Example, Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (THP) only: its rule makes crash videos and the investigating trooper’s photos free to a requester authorized to receive unredacted material, charges thirty-one dollars and twenty-five cents ($31.25) per quarter hour of video that must be redacted, including third-party redaction, and waives fees that total $50.00 or less (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1340-08-01-.08(1), (3), (6)(d), (e)); its rule requires proof of Tennessee citizenship, such as a Tennessee driver license or other state photo ID with your Tennessee address, or a sworn, notarized statement of your Tennessee residential address (Rule 1340-08-01-.03(2)); send requests on form SF-1565 to Safety.OpenRecords@tn.gov, by mail to 312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue, 25th Floor, Nashville, TN 37243, or to any THP district headquarters. Preservation: an agency may not authorize destroying records it knows are the subject of a pending request, and may be fined up to $500 for doing so (§ 10-7-503(h)(1), (3)), so ask for the video early.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Body cam public, minus 3 private scenes

Body cameras: the Public Records Act treats as confidential only the parts of law enforcement body camera video that show (A) minors inside a K-12 school, child care agency, child care program, preschool or nursery school, (B) the interior of a facility licensed under Title 33 or Title 68 (mental health and health care facilities), or (C) the interior of a private residence that is not being investigated as a crime scene (Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-504(u)(1)). Those parts must be redacted before release, and the rest of the video may not be withheld because it contains them (§ 10-7-504(u)(3)). This provision was set to be deleted on July 1, 2027; Public Chapter 672 of 2026, effective April 7, 2026, removed that expiration date from the statute, so it continues. Dashboard cameras: we found no Tennessee statute specific to patrol car video, so the general Public Records Act governs it, subject to the criminal-case limits in the investigation section below; the Tennessee Supreme Court has held that a closed investigative file that is not relevant to any pending or contemplated criminal action is open to the public (Memphis Publishing Co. v. Holt, 1986, as described in The Tennessean v. Metropolitan Government, 2016). Retention: we found no Tennessee statute setting a minimum retention period for body camera or dashcam video; each agency follows its own schedule, so request the video within days. Example, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department only: it takes body camera and in-car camera requests through its online open records request form, forwards them to its Information Technology Division, requires a photo ID, and publishes alongside those instructions a retention schedule by event category, for example 18 months for a “Call for service” or “General Citizen Contact,” 42 months for a “Police Involved Crash,” and 7 years for “Evidentiary/Search” or “Arrest” recordings. Example, Department of Safety (THP) only: crash videos with the investigating trooper’s photos are free to a requester authorized to receive unredacted material and $31.25 per quarter hour when redaction is required.

When police can hold video back

Pending criminal case: may be withheld

Records are open “unless otherwise provided by state law” (Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(2)(A)), and the Tennessee Supreme Court has held that Rule 16 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure is such a state law. Rule 16(a)(2) does not authorize discovery or inspection of “reports, memoranda, or other internal state documents made by the district attorney general or other state agents or law enforcement officers in connection with investigating or prosecuting the case,” or of statements of state witnesses or prospective state witnesses. In The Tennessean v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville (Tenn. 2016), the Court held that during the pendency of a criminal case and any collateral challenges to any conviction, Rule 16 governs the disclosure of information in the police investigative files, that only the defendants, not the public, may receive it, and that a public records requester has no right to it while the case and any such challenges are pending. Before charges are filed, the Court has treated records that are open and relevant to a pending or contemplated criminal action as covered by the same rule (Appman v. Worthington, 1987; Schneider v. City of Jackson, 2007, both as described in The Tennessean). When it ends: a closed investigative file that is not relevant to any pending or contemplated criminal action is subject to disclosure (Memphis Publishing Co. v. Holt, 1986, as described in The Tennessean). So if the crash leads to charges, expect video in the investigative file to be withheld until the case, any appeal and any challenge to a conviction are over, then ask again. The Office of Open Records Counsel now marks its 2009 opinion on this question (Advisory Opinion 09-06, about in-car video of a fatal crash involving an officer) as superseded by caselaw. Public Chapter 711 of 2026 also refers to records “privileged under the investigative privilege,” without defining it; in Schneider the Court held that Tennessee has no common law law enforcement investigative privilege (as described in The Tennessean). Tennessee Bureau of Investigation files: if the TBI investigates, its investigative records are confidential and disclosed to the public only under a subpoena or court order (Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-504(a)(2)(A)). A denial must state its basis (§ 10-7-503(a)(2)(B)(ii)), and you may ask the agency to keep the video in the meantime (§ 10-7-503(h)(1)).

Do traffic cameras in Tennessee record?

TDOT SmartWay: not recorded

TDOT says, in an April 20, 2026 announcement of a truck parking pilot: “Similar to TDOT SmartWay cameras, any camera deployed at the I-40 Welcome Center to monitor parking will not be recorded. or used for enforcement purposes.” The General Assembly’s Fiscal Review Committee reported in 2021, based on information from TDOT, that “data and footage gathered from the 1,000 cameras statewide is not currently stored but instead provided as a live feed” (fiscal note for HB 684 / SB 809); that bill, which would have required TDOT to store traffic camera footage for at least 30 days, was assigned to a Senate general subcommittee and not enacted. State law limits cameras on interstates to SmartWay cameras, other intelligent transportation system cameras, and state-operated work zone enforcement cameras, apart from law enforcement cameras TDOT may permit to aid criminal investigations or searches for missing or endangered persons, which may not be used for traffic enforcement (Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-198(f)). If you still want to confirm whether any image exists, contact TDOT’s Legal Division, which handles its public records requests, at (615) 741-2941 or TDOT.RecordsRequest@tn.gov; TDOT says it has seven business days to respond or say when records will be available, and requests for copies must be in writing. Cities run their own traffic cameras separately from TDOT, so send that city a request as well. We found no Tennessee statute setting how long any traffic camera video is kept.

Red-light and speed cameras

Red-light allowed; speed only limited

Tennessee regulates rather than bans traffic enforcement cameras run by cities and counties (Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-198). Red-light cameras: only POST-certified or state-commissioned officers may review the video and decide whether a violation occurred; the notice or citation goes by first class mail to the registered owner within 20 business days, and a camera citation is a nonmoving violation (§ 55-8-198(a), (b)(1)). A person cited who does not contest may pay a fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) instead of appearing in court (§ 55-8-198(b)(3)). A citation requires evidence showing the front tires before the stop line on red and the rear tires past it on red, and a camera may ticket a right turn on red only where a No Turn on Red sign is posted, while a camera citation for not fully stopping before a permitted right turn is invalid (§ 55-8-198(h), (i)). Speed cameras: an unmanned speed camera may not be used to issue a speeding citation on any public road except within the designated distance of a marked school zone or on an S-curve (§ 55-8-198(l)). Interstates: cameras are not permitted on federal interstate highways except SmartWay and other intelligent transportation system cameras and state-operated cameras in active work zones (§ 55-8-198(f)(1)). A new camera requires a traffic engineering study by a licensed traffic engineer that the vendor may not perform (§ 55-8-198(g)). School buses: a local school district may put cameras on the outside of its buses to record vehicles that fail to stop; since Public Chapter 764 of 2026 the district must either sign an agreement with local law enforcement covering review of the evidence and enforcement or authorize school safety personnel to review it, and the photos or video are admissible in a proceeding on the violation if they meet the Tennessee Rules of Evidence; since Public Chapter 179 of 2023 they are also prima facie evidence of the violation and must be made available for inspection in any proceeding contesting the citation (§ 55-8-151(c)). Access: we found no Tennessee statute that makes red-light, speed or school bus camera images confidential or that gives a crash victim a right to them. The images go to the registered owner with the citation, so if a camera covered your crash, ask the city, county or school district that runs it for the images under the Public Records Act right away.

If your request is denied

Court petition; OORC can mediate

Court: a Tennessee citizen whose request is denied in whole or in part may petition for access and judicial review in the chancery or circuit court of the county where the county or city records are kept; for state agency records, in Davidson County, the county where the records are kept, or the county where you live (Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-505(a), (b)). On request the court must order the agency to appear and show cause, no formal written answer is required so the hearing can be quick, and the court may review the video under seal (§ 10-7-505(b)). The agency must justify withholding by a preponderance of the evidence, and the law is to be broadly construed to give the fullest possible public access (§ 10-7-505(c), (d)). If the court finds the agency knew the record was public and willfully refused to disclose it, the court may make it pay your reasonable costs, including attorney fees (§ 10-7-505(g)). A failure to respond within the deadline counts as a denial you may take to court (§ 10-7-503(a)(3)). Section 10-7-505 sets no filing deadline. Office of Open Records Counsel: this office in the Comptroller of the Treasury answers questions and issues informal advisory opinions to anyone, including members of the public, and may informally mediate public records disputes (§ 8-4-601(b), (c)); its policy says it mediates only when both sides agree and each submits a statement of the issues. Contact: Open.Records@cot.tn.gov, (615) 401-7891, Cordell Hull Building, 425 Rep. John Lewis Way N., Nashville, TN 37243. Its opinions are informal and advisory. You may want to ask a lawyer before filing a petition.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send a public records request today

   Email or use the portal of the agency that responded. Ask for body camera and in-car video, giving the date, time, location, case number and officer if known.

2. 2

   Ask the agency to keep the video

   No statewide minimum retention applies, but an agency may not destroy records it knows are subject to a pending request. Ask for a cost estimate before copies.

3. 3

   Skip TDOT video, check city cameras

   TDOT says SmartWay cameras are not recorded. Ask any city camera operator promptly, and post the crash on the bounty board for nearby dashcam and business footage.

4. 4

   Challenge a denial

   Ask the Office of Open Records Counsel for help or mediation, or petition the chancery or circuit court; if charges are pending, ask again once the case closes.

Frequently asked questions