How to get a crash report in Houston (HPD, Harris County, suburbs, TxDOT)

The short answer

Once the investigating officer has filed it, a Houston-area crash report can be bought online from the Texas Department of Transportation's CRIS portal for $6, or $8 for a certified copy. The Houston Police Department (HPD) also sells its reports by mail and in person at 1200 Travis St., and links to a LexisNexis site for online purchase. Suburban police departments and the Harris County Sheriff each publish their own steps, summarized in the table below.

This guide collects what each agency's official page said when we checked it in October 2026. It is general informational guidance, not legal advice, and it does not apply the law to your situation. Procedures and fees change, so the agency's own page is the place to confirm the current steps.

Key facts (as of October 2026)

• Fee set by statute. A copy of a crash report costs $6; certification is $2 more (Tex. Transp. Code §550.065(d)).
• Statewide portal. TxDOT sells crash reports through its Crash Report Online Purchase System, also called CRIS: $6 regular, $8 certified, with a small system surcharge and possible credit card processing fees (TxDOT, Crash Reports and Records; CRIS).
• Filing deadline for officers. An officer's report must be filed electronically with TxDOT not later than the 10th day after the crash (§550.062(b)).
• HPD records counter. Edward A. Thomas Building, 1200 Travis St., 1st floor, Houston, TX 77002, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Records 713-308-8500, option 3 (HPD, Public Information).
• Full or redacted. Anyone may request a redacted report. The full report goes to the people the statute lists, such as a person involved in the crash and that person's authorized representative (§550.065(c), (c-1)).
• Form name. The officer's report is the Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report. TxDOT's forms and instructions call it Form CR-3; the CRIS purchase site and its help text now call it CR-4 (TxDOT, Crash Reports and Records; CRIS).
• Driver-filed CR-2 retired. TxDOT no longer keeps or provides the driver's own crash report (Form CR-2) (TxDOT, Crash Reports and Records).

Which agency has my crash report?

The report belongs to the agency whose officer investigated the crash, and the officer files it with TxDOT. In the Houston area, the investigating agency is often one of these:

• the Houston Police Department (HPD);
• the Harris County Sheriff's Office or one of the Harris County constable precincts;
• METRO Police;
• a suburban police department, such as Pasadena, Baytown, Pearland, Sugar Land, League City, Missouri City, Katy or Conroe;
• the Fort Bend County or Montgomery County sheriff's office; or
• the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) state troopers. DPS says to get the CR-3 for a crash its troopers worked from TxDOT's Crash Report Online Purchase System (DPS, Public Information Requests).

If you are not sure which agency responded, CRIS lets you search by name, driver's license or ID number, vehicle identification number (VIN), TxDOT Crash ID, or the agency's case number (CRIS Help Center, as of October 2026).

Agency-by-agency table (as of October 2026)

Each row reflects the agency's own page when we checked it. "CRIS" means TxDOT's Crash Report Online Purchase System.

Where official pages disagree, we show what each one says:

• METRO: its FAQ lists $12 online or in person, while its open records page lists $6 non-certified and $8 certified, citing §550.065.
• Pearland: the Online Reporting & Records page says the department "does not release or sell crash reports at the police department" and sends all requests to CRIS. The Support Services Division page still says reports "may be picked up in person from 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. with a $6.00 fee".
• Baytown: "$8 if mailed by certified letter" reads as a mailing option; the $8 in the statute is the price of a certified copy. Baytown also says "there may not be a CR-3 completed for all accidents", and that in that case a "complaint only accident report" can be requested through Open Records.
• League City: the in-person copy is the public (redacted) copy; full copies need a public information request, as described on the city's Records page.

How do I get an HPD crash report?

The Houston Police Department describes three ways to request a crash report (HPD, Public Information; H.B. 2633 request form), as of October 2026:

• Online. HPD's public information page says crash reports "can be purchased online from the Texas Department of Transportation at" buycrash.lexisnexisrisk.com, a LexisNexis site. HPD's current request form (Rev. 12/25) lists policereports.lexisnexis.com, jurisdiction "Houston PD". HPD says "The H. B. 2633 requirements must be met for online purchase under penalty of perjury, via questionnaire." The same report is also sold through TxDOT's CRIS portal, which TxDOT says collects reports from every law enforcement agency in Texas.
• By mail. Send the completed H.B. 2633 form with a check or money order payable to "City of Houston" and a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Houston Police Department Records Division, Public Counter Unit, 1200 Travis Street, Houston, Texas 77002.
• In person. The Records Division is on the 1st floor of the Edward A. Thomas Building, 1200 Travis St., open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

HPD says "Full copies can only be purchased in person or via mail with the accompanying H.B. 2633 form." The form comes in English and Spanish. The requester signs it under a perjury warning.

What to have ready. HPD asks for at least two of: the date of the crash, the location, and the names of the drivers or other people involved, plus the incident number if you have one. The form also asks for the requester's name, signature, type and number of ID, and which category of requester applies.

HPD's pages differ on cost and timing. We show both rather than pick one:

For questions, HPD lists Records at 713-308-8500, option 3, and the Open Records Unit at 713-308-9178.

Filing a report with HPD online

HPD's online reporting page accepts online reports only for minor crashes ("FSGI / Hit And Run") with no injuries, where no vehicle needed to be towed and the damage is under $1,000. HPD says no collision diagram is provided for those reports. For more on hit-and-run crashes, see Hit-and-Run Crashes in Texas.

How do I buy a crash report from TxDOT's CRIS?

TxDOT says it collects crash reports from every law enforcement agency in Texas, and it sells them through its Crash Report Online Purchase System. As of October 2026, TxDOT's Crash Reports and Records page and the CRIS Help Center say:

• Cost. $6 for a regular copy and $8 for a certified copy. There is a "minimal surcharge for using this system", and "Additional processing fees may be applied for credit card transactions."
• Timing. The officer has up to 10 days to file. After TxDOT receives the report, it "may take up to 4 business days to process".
• Search. By name, driver's license or ID number, VIN, TxDOT Crash ID, or agency case number.
• Full or redacted. The non-redacted copy is available only to persons involved; the buyer completes an affidavit certifying involvement. Redacted copies are available to anyone.
• Delivery. A non-redacted report paid by credit card is an immediate download. Payment by electronic check has a 10-business-day hold. Redacted reports go through a TxDOT review that can take up to 10 business days.
• Mail. TxDOT's online system is the main route. Its pages no longer list the mail-order form, so this guide does not describe ordering from TxDOT by mail.
• Retention. TxDOT keeps crash records for 10 years plus the current year.
• Help. The CRIS help desk is 844-274-7457 (844-CRIS-HELP).
• Unofficial sites. TxDOT warns that it "has become aware of unapproved websites offering Texas Crash Reports" and that reports "are provided by either the Department of Transportation, or by the agency which authored the report."

For a statewide overview, including how other large Texas cities handle requests, see Getting Your Texas Crash Report.

Harris County Sheriff and constables

Harris County Sheriff's Office

The Traffic Crash tab of the HCSO Report Crime page links "Purchase Crash Reports Online" to the HCSO Public Records Center. That page says: "Crash reports are available for purchase through the Texas Department of Transportation website." As of October 2026, HCSO's pages do not list a separate fee, wait time or in-person pickup, so the CRIS steps above apply. HCSO lists its Vehicular Crimes Division at 713-274-7400 for crash information, and 713-221-6000 to report a crash. The sheriff's office website is harriscountyso.org.

Harris County constables

Each constable precinct runs its own website. As of October 2026:

Who may get the full crash report?

Texas law releases the full report, on written request and payment of the fee, to government entities, the investigating agency, a court that subpoenas it, and "any person directly concerned in the collision or having a proper interest therein" (Tex. Transp. Code §550.065(c)). That last group includes:

• any person involved in the collision, and that person's authorized representative;
• a driver involved, and the driver's employer, parent or legal guardian;
• the owner of a vehicle or property damaged in the collision;
• a person who established financial responsibility for a vehicle involved, including a policyholder;
• an insurer that issued a policy covering a vehicle or a person involved, and its claims or underwriting contractor;
• a licensed radio or television station and a qualifying newspaper;
• any person who may sue because of a death resulting from the collision; and
• an employee or representative of a vehicle storage facility that stored a vehicle involved.

Any person may request the redacted version (§550.065(c-1)). HPD's request form quotes this list, and Sugar Land's page gives its own version of it under the heading "Pursuant to HB2633".

Does a crash have to be reported in Texas?

The driver's duty is in Tex. Transp. Code §550.026(a):

"The operator of a vehicle involved in a collision resulting in injury to or death of a person or damage to a vehicle to the extent that it cannot be normally and safely driven shall immediately … give notice of the collision to the: (1) local police department if the collision occurred in a municipality; (2) local police department or the sheriff's office if the collision occurred not more than 100 feet outside the limits of a municipality; or (3) sheriff's office or the nearest office of the department if the collision is not required to be reported under Subdivision (1) or (2)."

(The omitted words say how notice is given; the full text is on the linked page.)

The officer's duty is in §550.062:

"(a) A law enforcement officer who in the regular course of duty investigates a motor vehicle collision shall make a written report of the collision if the collision resulted in injury to or the death of a person or damage to the property of any one person to the apparent extent of $1,000 or more. (b) The report required by Subsection (a) must be filed electronically with the department not later than the 10th day after the date of the collision."

In §550.062, "department" means TxDOT (§550.0601).

The driver's CR-2 "blue form" is retired

TxDOT says: "Effective Sept. 1, 2017, per the 85th Texas Legislature Senate Bill 312, the Driver's Crash Report (Form CR-2) is no longer retained by TxDOT." Drivers in a crash that no police officer investigated, who were given a CR-2 or a similar local form, "should retain this information for their records" (TxDOT, Crash Reports and Records). HCSO says the same: "The citizen no longer mails the form to Texas Department of Transportation."

What is on a crash report?

The Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report records what the investigating officer documented about the crash. The statute's list of items left out of the redacted version shows the personal details the full report carries (§550.065(f)(2)):

• the names of the people in the report;
• driver's license numbers;
• dates of birth (the redacted version keeps only the year);
• addresses (the redacted version keeps only the ZIP code);
• telephone numbers;
• license plate numbers;
• insurance company names and policy numbers;
• the officer's badge number; and
• where injured people were taken.

About InjuryClaimGuide

InjuryClaimGuide is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Participating law firms pay InjuryClaimGuide to receive leads. InjuryClaimGuide is not a lawyer referral service and is not affiliated with any state bar.

InjuryClaimGuide does not request, buy or hold crash reports. For more about crashes in the Houston area, see Car Accidents in Houston and What To Do After a Car Accident in Houston.

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