Georgia Police Reports: How to Get a Crash Report or Incident Report

Georgia routes crash reports through a LexisNexis-built statewide system, while everything else, from incident reports to body camera footage, runs through the Georgia Open Records Act. That single statute, O.C.G.A. section 50-18-72, does more work in Georgia than in most states: it sets a need-based standard for crash reports, carves out initial incident reports from the general investigation exemption, and contains a narrow, easy-to-miss exemption for body camera footage recorded somewhere private.

This guide covers the crash report process, the incident report process, Georgia's embedded bodycam rule, and its separate 911 recording exemptions.

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

How to Get a Copy of a Georgia Crash Report

Georgia routes crash reports through the Georgia Electronic Accident Reporting System, known as GEARS, which the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) designates as the state's official crash report repository. GEARS is developed and maintained by LexisNexis, and according to the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, roughly 95 percent of the state's crash reports are transmitted to it electronically by investigating agencies. Most requesters buy a report online through BuyCrash, the LexisNexis platform Georgia agencies use to distribute reports, or through GDOT's own mail process using its individual crash report request form. GDOT and BuyCrash each publish their own current fee schedules; confirm the exact figure directly with whichever channel is used, since GDOT's request-form page was not independently accessible for this guide.

Who Can Get a Georgia Crash Report

Georgia's Open Records Act does not leave crash reports fully open on request. Section 50-18-72(a)(5) requires anyone asking to inspect or copy an individual Georgia Uniform Motor Vehicle Accident Report to submit a written statement of need, unless they fall into one of nine categories the statute treats as automatically eligible: a personal, professional, or business connection to a party; ownership or lease of damaged property; being an injured party; being a witness; being an insurer; being a prosecutor or law enforcement officer; alleged liability in the crash; being an attorney with a stated case or investigation need; or another enumerated category. Anyone named in the report can get their own copy without showing need. The statute also bars bulk copying of reports without a written need showing for each individual report, limiting data mining style requests.

How to Get a Georgia Police Incident Report

For anything other than a crash report, requesters go to the responding agency's own open records unit under the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. section 50-18-70 and following. Atlanta Police Department's process reportedly routes routine single crash reports to BuyCrash or the department's Central Records Unit, while broader or bulk requests, including 911 audio and multi-incident pulls, go through the Open Records Unit; secondary sources describe the first 15 minutes of staff time as free and a 3-business-day acknowledgment window, but this guide could not independently confirm those figures on Atlanta PD's own site. Confirm the current process and any fees directly with Atlanta PD's Open Records Unit.

Georgia's law enforcement investigatory exemption, section 50-18-72(a)(4), withholds records compiled for law enforcement or prosecution purposes while a case is pending, but it draws its own carve-out: the exemption applies to pending investigations "other than initial police arrest reports and initial incident reports," meaning the first incident report an officer files is not shielded by the pending-investigation exemption even while the underlying case continues.

Body Camera Footage in Georgia

Georgia has no standalone body camera statute, but it is not a state where bodycam footage sits entirely outside the public records law either. Section 50-18-72(a)(26.2) creates a narrow exemption for audio and video recordings from devices used by law enforcement officers in a place where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, when there is no pending investigation. That footage is closed to the general public, but the statute opens it to a defined list of eligible requesters, each of whom must submit a sworn affidavit establishing eligibility: the estate representative of a deceased person shown in the recording, the parent or guardian of a minor shown in the recording, the accused in a related criminal case, a party to a related civil action, or any of their attorneys. Footage recorded somewhere without a reasonable expectation of privacy, or connected to a still-pending investigation, falls outside this narrow carve-out and instead sits under the general (a)(4) pending-investigation exemption described above. For the state's fuller legal picture, see Georgia's body camera laws.

Georgia's 911 Recording Exemptions

Georgia separately protects certain 911 recordings. Section 50-18-72(a)(26) generally exempts records revealing a 911 caller's identity, address, or phone number, unless the requester is the accused or the accused's attorney. Section 50-18-72(a)(26.1) goes further for a specific category: audio recordings capturing the distress or cries of a caller who died during the call, or who was a minor at the time of the call, are exempt except to the same kind of sworn affidavit eligible list used for the bodycam carve-out above, a deceased caller's estate representative, a minor caller's parent or guardian, an accused in a related criminal case, a civil action party, or their attorneys. For the general rules on recorded emergency calls, see are 911 calls public records.

Corrections and Practical Notes

Georgia's GDOT-523 form appears to function as a correction or supplement form for crash reports, but its content could not be independently verified for this guide because GDOT's site was not accessible. If a Georgia crash report needs a correction, contact the investigating agency or GDOT directly rather than relying on an unverified form description.

Related Resources

Police Reports by State covers the full 50-state picture. See also how to file a police report, how to read a police report, are police reports public, how to request body camera footage, Georgia bodycam laws, Georgia car accident laws, Georgia public records laws, and Georgia court records.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Georgia's police report and public records process. It is not legal advice. Fees, portals, and eligibility rules change; verify current details with the agencies named above or a licensed Georgia attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.

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