How to Get a Police Report in Maryland (2026 Guide)

Maryland's crash-report process depends on which agency investigated. Maryland State Police reports go through MSP's Central Records Division, while many county and municipal agencies, including MSP itself for some jurisdictions, route through the statewide BuyCrash portal. A general incident report is a separate request under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA), and body camera access is unusual among the states with a dedicated statute: Maryland's law does not set access rules directly, it delegates that job to a statewide model policy and to each department's own procedure. This page covers all three, using Baltimore Police Department's process as a concrete example of how that delegation plays out.

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

Getting a Crash Report in Maryland

Which channel you use for a Maryland crash report depends on which agency investigated it. If Maryland State Police responded, you can request the report by mail or in person at the Central Records Division or the responding MSP barrack, for a $4.00 non-refundable document-search fee payable by check or money order only, no cash. MSP advises waiting at least ten days after the accident before requesting, to allow processing time.

Many Maryland counties and municipalities, and MSP itself in some jurisdictions, instead route crash reports through the statewide BuyCrash portal at buycrash.lexisnexisrisk.com. Fees vary by jurisdiction: several Maryland cities list a $20.00 fee on BuyCrash, including Hyattsville, a Prince George's County municipality whose own published fee page confirms the $20.00 figure with no county-wide carve-out. Baltimore City accidents are handled differently again; they route to Baltimore Police Department's own Central Records Division rather than through MSP or BuyCrash.

MSP's own guidance describes reports as provided to legally entitled parties without spelling out the full eligibility list on that page; Maryland's crash-reporting statute, Transportation Article Section 20-107, establishes the driver's duty to file a report rather than the disclosure-eligibility list itself, so if you are requesting a report involving a crash you were not a party to, confirm your eligibility with the specific agency holding the report before assuming access. For more on fault rules and deadlines after a Maryland crash, see our Maryland car accident laws page.

Getting an Incident Report in Maryland

A general incident report, for a crime or other call unrelated to a traffic crash, is requested under the Maryland Public Information Act. Send a written request to the investigating agency, including the report number if you have it, the incident date and location, and the names involved, along with a full return address. Maryland State Police and most local departments accept MPIA requests by mail or email.

The relevant exemption is General Provisions Section 4-351, which lets an agency withhold records of an investigation conducted by a police department, sheriff, or prosecutor's office, and any investigatory file compiled for a law enforcement purpose, at the custodian's discretion. The same section carves an important category back in: police-misconduct records are generally disclosable under subsection (a)(4), reflecting Maryland's broader police-transparency reforms.

Under General Provisions Section 4-203, a custodian must grant or deny the request within 30 days of receiving it. If production will take longer than 10 working days, or if the request is being denied, the custodian must send written notice within that 10-day window, stating either the anticipated time and fee range or the reason for the denial. For the state's broader open-records framework, see our Maryland public records laws page.

Body Camera Footage in Maryland

Maryland does have a dedicated, statewide body camera statute, but it works differently from most other dedicated-act states. Public Safety Article Section 3-511 directs the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission to develop and publish online a policy for the issuance and use of body-worn cameras that addresses, among other things, access to and confidentiality of recordings. The statute itself does not spell out who may request footage, what the fee is, or how long an agency has to respond; it delegates that job to the Commission's model policy and, in practice, to each department's own adopted procedure.

Baltimore Police Department's process is a useful concrete example of how that delegation plays out. BPD's own Policy 824 sets the operative rules for its footage: a request goes through BPD's MPIA process for body-worn camera video, submitted by email to the department's records unit, followed by a cost-estimate letter that covers the work of researching, redacting, and producing the footage. BPD's transparency page does not itself state a specific turnaround time for that letter or confirm an indigency fee-waiver option; both details would need to be confirmed directly against the Policy 824 document or with BPD's records unit before relying on them. Baltimore County runs a comparable request process for its own footage.

Because Section 3-511 sets a framework rather than fixed rules, expect meaningful variation between departments in fees, timelines, and redaction practice. For the model policy itself and how Maryland's approach compares with other states, see our Maryland body camera laws page and the cluster guide on how to request body camera footage.

Corrections and Other Practical Notes

No statewide statutory procedure for correcting a completed Maryland crash or incident report was independently verified; contact the investigating agency's records division directly if you believe a report contains an error. Redactions on both crash and incident reports generally follow the MPIA's general framework rather than a Maryland-specific juvenile or victim carve-out documented on a primary source this cycle; BPD's bodycam process references redaction explicitly as part of its cost-estimate stage.

For general guidance on filing a new report or reading a completed one, see how to file a police report and how to read a police report. If a case tied to the incident proceeds through the courts, related filings are available through Maryland court records.

Disclaimer

This article provides general legal information about public-records access in the state named above. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney about a specific situation. Fees, forms, and processing times change; confirm current figures with the listed agency before relying on them.

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