How to Get a Police Report in Arkansas (2026): Crash & Incident Reports

Arkansas runs its crash reports through a dedicated online purchase system operated by the Arkansas State Police, separate from the general incident-report process that covers arrests, thefts, and other non-crash offenses. The two paths use different statutes, different fees, and, importantly, a different bodycam rule than most readers expect.

Arkansas does have a dedicated body-worn camera confidentiality statute, but it covers only recordings depicting the death of a law enforcement officer. It is not a general bodycam-access law, and treating it as one would misstate what most Arkansas bodycam requests are actually governed by.

Information last verified on 2026-08-11. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How to Get an Arkansas Crash Report

The Arkansas State Police (ASP) maintains a centralized, statewide crash-records repository with its own online system.

How to order: Use the ASP 'Crash Report Online Purchase System' at crashreports.ark.org, searching by report number, driver's license number, last name, or accident date. You can also mail a request to ASP Crash Records Section, One State Police Plaza Drive, Little Rock, AR 72209.

Fee: $10 per report if you were involved in the crash; $25 per report if you were not, confirmed directly on the Arkansas Department of Public Safety's crash-records page.

Timeline: Reports are typically available for purchase within 10 days of the report being completed and forwarded to the Little Rock repository after supervisor verification.

Who may request: Both involved parties (drivers, passengers) and uninvolved requesters (attorneys, insurers, the general public) may obtain a report, with the fee tier above the only distinction the state page draws.

How to Get an Arkansas Police Incident Report

An incident or offense report for an arrest, theft, assault, or other non-crash matter is not handled by the crash-records system above. It goes through a standard Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the agency that investigated, whether the local police department or Arkansas State Police, since crashreports.ark.org is crash-specific and does not serve general incident reports.

Arkansas Code § 25-19-105(b)(6), confirmed directly against the statute's text, exempts 'undisclosed investigations by law enforcement agencies of suspected criminal activity' from disclosure under the FOIA. The statute does not itself say what happens once an investigation closes, but closure of the investigation generally weakens this kind of exemption, since the record is no longer an 'undisclosed' ongoing matter; ask the custodian whether the underlying record is now available rather than assuming either outcome. Requests can be made in person, by phone, mail, fax, email, or another electronic method the custodian provides, and Arkansas Code § 25-19-105(a)(3) requires only that the request be specific enough for the custodian to locate the records with reasonable effort.

Arkansas Police Bodycam Footage

This is the point where a reader can easily be misled by a headline statute. Arkansas Code § 12-6-701 is a real, dedicated body-worn and dashboard camera confidentiality statute, but its scope is narrow: it applies only to a recording that 'depicts or records the death of a law enforcement officer.'

Confirmed directly against the statute's text, that narrow category is confidential and exempt from FOIA disclosure, with access limited to: a family member of the deceased officer (a minor child at least 14 years old may access it with a parent's written consent and supervision); the employing or investigating agency, Arkansas State Police, or the FBI, for an official investigation into the officer's death; prosecuting attorneys and defense counsel through discovery in a related criminal or civil case; or a person or entity that petitions a circuit court in the county where the record is held, showing good cause. A custodian who knowingly permits unauthorized access to a death-of-an-officer recording commits a Class D felony.

For the vast majority of Arkansas bodycam requests, an ordinary traffic stop, an arrest, a use-of-force incident that does not involve an officer's death, § 12-6-701 does not apply at all. Those requests instead run through the general FOIA law-enforcement exemption, § 25-19-105(b)(6), described above, on the same case-by-case basis as any other investigative record. See Arkansas Police Bodycam Laws and our guide to requesting body camera footage for the fuller picture.

Corrections and Practical Notes

No Arkansas-specific statutory process for correcting a factual error on a crash or incident report was found; contact the investigating agency directly.

Arkansas Code § 27-53-208 makes clear that a required accident report is 'without prejudice to the individual so reporting' and cannot be used as evidence in a civil or criminal trial arising from the crash, beyond a certificate proving one was or was not filed, so the report itself is not intended to establish fault in court.

For the aftermath of a crash beyond the report itself, see Arkansas Car Accident Laws. For the broader public-records framework, see Arkansas Public Records Laws and Arkansas Court Records. For the general process of filing or reading a report, see How to File a Police Report and How to Read a Police Report.

Disclaimer

This article provides general legal information about how to obtain a police crash report, incident report, or body camera footage in Arkansas as verified on 2026-08-11. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Readers with a specific records dispute, or who need advice about a specific incident, should consult a lawyer licensed in Arkansas.

Last updated: 2026-08-11. Fees and portals reflect their published status as of August 2026.