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

The public records law that gets you the video

Wyoming Public Records Act, W.S. 16-4-201 to 16-4-205

30 calendar days unless good cause

The right: “All public records shall be open for inspection by any person at reasonable times, during business hours of the governmental entity, except as provided in this act or as otherwise provided by law” (W.S. 16-4-202(a)). “Information” includes data “in whatever physical form kept or maintained, including, but not limited to, written, aural, visual, electronic or other physical form” (16-4-201(a)(x)), which covers video. Asking: an application is “a written request for a public record,” though the designated public records person “may in his discretion deem a verbal request to be an application” (16-4-201(a)(ix)), and every application goes to the entity’s designated public records person (16-4-202(a), (e)). The Department of Administration and Information (A&I) publishes a contact list of designated public records persons, and the governor’s ombudsman page says there is no central place to request records. Deadlines (16-4-202(b), (c)): if the entity does not have the record, it must tell you within seven (7) business days from acknowledged receipt and name the right contact if known; if the record is in active use or storage, it must forward the request to the custodian and tell you within seven (7) business days; a readily available record “shall be released immediately” if that does not impair the entity’s other duties; and all public records must be released “not later than thirty (30) calendar days from the date of acknowledged receipt of the request unless good cause exists,” in which case they are released on a date you and the entity agree. Fees: copies are furnished “for a reasonable fee to be set by the official custodian,” inspection alone may not be charged for, and any fee must first be authorized by a statute, rule, resolution, ordinance, executive order or similar authority (16-4-204(a), (c)). For a record kept electronically, you pay the reasonable costs of producing the copy, which may include constructing it and programming and computer services, and the entity need not compile or extract data or create a new document (16-4-202(d)). State agencies: A&I’s uniform rules (Chapter 2, adopted 2016, which WYDOT incorporates by rule) charge production and construction costs for electronic records only when they exceed $180.00, and then only the amount above $180.00, at $15.50 per hour for clerical staff, $30.00 per hour for information technology staff and $40.00 per hour for professional staff, plus actual cost for electronic media such as a disk or thumb drive, and require prepayment of the estimate. Example from its own page: Casper Police charge $25.00 per video without redactions, $30.00 per work hour per video with redactions, a quote with half paid up front for large video requests, and $10.00 per request for dispatch or body camera audio only.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Denied unless court order or exception

Wyoming has a statute for police body camera and dashcam video. A “peace officer recording” is “any audio or video data recorded by a peace officer” on a camera or other device that is provided to or used by the officer in the course of official business and is “designed to be worn on the peace officer’s body or attached to a vehicle” used by the officer (W.S. 16-4-201(a)(xi)); a peace officer includes sheriffs and deputies, municipal police and the Wyoming Highway Patrol (6-1-104(a)(vi)). The custodian “shall deny the right of inspection” of information obtained through a peace officer recording, “unless otherwise provided by law,” provided that (16-4-203(d)(xviii)): (A) the custodian “shall allow” inspection by law enforcement personnel or public agencies for official business “or pursuant to a court order”; and (B) the custodian “may allow” inspection (I) to the person in interest, (II) if the information involves an incident of deadly force or serious bodily injury, (III) in response to a complaint against law enforcement personnel when the custodian determines inspection is not contrary to the public interest, or (IV) in the interest of public safety. The “person in interest” is the person who is the subject of a record or a representative that person designates, or a parent or legal representative if the subject is under legal disability (16-4-201(a)(iii)). “Serious bodily injury” means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death, causes severe protracted physical pain, severe disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of a bodily function, unconsciousness or a concussion with protracted loss of function, second or third degree burns over a significant portion of the body, or a significant fracture or break of a bone (6-1-104(a)(x)). Release under (B) is discretionary (“may allow”), so if the agency refuses, the routes we found are a complaint to the ombudsman, a district court petition, or a court order (see the appeal section). Related records: information obtained through a 911 emergency telephone system is withheld except from law enforcement or public agencies on official business, the person in interest, or under a court order (16-4-203(d)(x)). In a fatal crash, photographs and video made at the scene of the death by or for a coroner are confidential, but a surviving spouse, parent, adult child, personal representative, legal representative or legal guardian may view and copy them, and on written request so may insurance companies with a legitimate interest in the death and all parties in civil litigation with a legitimate interest in it; a court may also order access for good cause (7-4-105(b) to (h)). Where to ask: the Wyoming Highway Patrol sends its public records requests, including case reports, to its online portal, which asks for the WHP incident number (crash reports themselves come from WYDOT); for city police or a sheriff, ask that agency’s designated public records person. Retention: we found no statute setting how long police video is kept. The Wyoming State Archives’ State Agency schedule (for state agencies such as the Highway Patrol) and its Local Government schedule (for city police and sheriffs) both list “Surveillance - Video Recording Devices” (PSS-LAE-21): “Routine footage may be destroyed or recycled 90 days after create date,” while footage documenting injuries, “offenses against the person” or detentions is kept 5 years after the incident, investigation or court case ends, whichever is later; they separately list “Video Records” (PSS-LAE-15) at 5 years after completion. The schedules do not name body or dash cameras, so ask the agency which series it applies and ask it to keep the video.

When police can hold video back

Investigation files: may be withheld

The custodian “may deny the right of inspection” of “Records of investigations conducted by, or of intelligence information or security procedures of, any sheriff, county attorney, city attorney, the attorney general, the state auditor, police department, upon approval by the attorney general the department of corrections investigation services unit or any investigatory files compiled for any other law enforcement or prosecution purposes,” unless otherwise provided by law, “on the ground that disclosure to the applicant would be contrary to the public interest” (W.S. 16-4-203(b)(i)). The exemption is discretionary (“may deny”) and requires that ground; the statute sets no point at which an investigation file stops being covered, and we found no official guidance on when a crash investigation ends. Body camera and dashcam video falls under its own, stricter rule in 16-4-203(d)(xviii) whether or not an investigation is open. If inspection of a record in any of these classifications is allowed to one news organization, “it may be allowed to all news media” (16-4-203(c)). Separately, a custodian who believes disclosure of a record that would otherwise be open “would do substantial injury to the public interest” may ask the district court for an order restricting disclosure; you must be served with notice of the hearing and have the right to appear and be heard (16-4-203(g)). If an agency withholds, ask for the written statement of the grounds, which must cite the law or regulation relied on (16-4-203(e)).

Do traffic cameras in Wyoming record?

WYDOT: stills; no storage policy found

The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) said on March 18, 2024 that its 222 web cameras around the state “take photos of road conditions every few minutes,” that they “only show a snapshot of part of the road,” and that its 511 tools are run by the agency’s Transportation Management Center; the images are shown on wyoroad.info and the Wyoming 511 app. These are periodic still images for road conditions, not continuous video. We found no WYDOT statement on whether it stores those images or for how long, and the State Archives’ state agency schedule has no series specific to road condition cameras (it lists law enforcement “Surveillance” records “including radio, telephone and web cameras” at 2 years after creation, series PSS-LAE-11, and does not say whether that series reaches WYDOT’s road cameras). Because a still taken every few minutes may or may not show your crash, and anything kept may be overwritten, ask WYDOT right away under the Public Records Act (W.S. 16-4-202) with the highway, nearest milepost or town, direction and exact time; wyoroad.info gives wyoroad@wyo.gov as WYDOT’s contact, and A&I’s list names each agency’s designated public records person. School bus video: every school bus carrying students must have an external video system; its recordings and images “shall not be a public record under the Wyoming Public Records Act,” may be entered into evidence for a stop-arm violation and “may be discoverable for other criminal actions,” and must be destroyed within one year of the date the recording was made (21-3-131(b)(x)). Cameras run by a city, county or private business are separate; ask the owner directly.

Red-light and speed cameras

No red-light/speed law; bus stop-arm

We found no Wyoming statute that authorizes or bans red-light or speed cameras. We searched the full text of every title of the Wyoming Statutes on the Legislature’s site for red-light, speed camera, photo radar, photo enforcement, automated traffic enforcement, traffic camera and camera provisions, and the 2024, 2025 and 2026 enrolled acts enacted none. The one camera enforcement law is for school buses: a recording of images from a school bus video system “shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained in it” and is admissible to decide liability for illegally passing a stopped school bus; if the driver’s identity is unknown, the registered owner of the recorded vehicle “shall be fined one hundred ninety-five dollars ($195.00),” which is not a moving violation or a conviction, and it is a defense that the owner did not consent to the driver’s use or had transferred the vehicle before the violation (W.S. 31-5-507(e)). Those recordings are not public records (21-3-131(b)(x)), so a crash victim cannot get them by a records request; they may be discoverable in other criminal actions. If a city says a camera captured your crash, ask it for the images under the Public Records Act and for the legal authority if it refuses.

If your request is denied

Ombudsman or district court

Written grounds: if access is denied, you may ask for a written statement of the grounds, which “shall cite the law or regulation under which access is denied” (W.S. 16-4-203(e)). Ombudsman: the governor designates a public records ombudsman (16-4-201(c)), and you “may at any time file a complaint” with the ombudsman, or petition the district court, for a determination of whether the custodian has shown good cause for not releasing records within 30 days; either reviews the records in camera and decides whether redaction would permit release (16-4-202(c)(v)). If an entity misses an agreed release date or does not comply with an ombudsman order, the ombudsman may mediate, prescribe timelines for release and waive the entity’s fees (16-4-203(f)(ii)). The governor’s ombudsman page says either party may file a complaint for a determination of whether the custodian has shown good cause “in refusing to release records or in providing redacted records”; that you can file online, on a paper form or by email to pr.ombudsman@wyo.gov; that the ombudsman is not an attorney, cannot give a legally enforceable opinion and “cannot compel any government entity to release public records”; that there is no set time frame for a decision, with status updates expected weekly; that you do not have to use the ombudsman before going to court; and that there is no appeal from mediation, though you may then go to district court. Court: besides the district court petition on good cause in 16-4-202(c)(v), if an entity misses an agreed release date or does not comply with an ombudsman order, you may apply to the district court of the district where the record is found for an order directing the custodian to show cause why it should not permit inspection and compelling production, and that order may waive fees charged by a state governmental entity (16-4-203(f)(i)). Any person who knowingly or intentionally violates the act is liable for a penalty of up to $750.00, recoverable in a civil action, and the court may assess damages (16-4-205). We found no statutory deadline for filing with the ombudsman or the court. You may want to ask a lawyer about a court order, which is also a route to peace officer recordings (16-4-203(d)(xviii)(A)).

What to do now

1. 1

   Request police video right away

   Send a written request to the responding agency’s designated public records person with the date, time, place and case number. For the Highway Patrol, use its online portal with the WHP incident number.

2. 2

   Say you are in the video

   An agency may release a recording to the person in interest, the person who is its subject. Say how you were involved and whether anyone suffered serious bodily injury.

3. 3

   Ask the agency to keep the video

   The State Archives schedule lets routine surveillance footage be recycled after 90 days. Ask that the crash video be preserved.

4. 4

   Contact the ombudsman if stalled

   If release is denied or late, email pr.ombudsman@wyo.gov or petition the district court. The ombudsman mediates but cannot compel release.

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