Missouri Police Reports: How to Get a Crash Report, Incident Report, or Bodycam Video

Missouri splits police records into two separate paths. A traffic crash report comes from the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Patrol Records Division if MSHP investigated, or from the responding local agency if it did not. An incident report, meaning the general record of a call for service or a criminal complaint, comes from that agency's own records unit under Missouri's open-records law, the Sunshine Law.

Both paths run through the same underlying statute, RSMo 610.100, which is unusual: most states write a separate confidentiality clause just for crash reports. Missouri did not. What that means in practice, what a Highway Patrol crash report costs, and how Missouri treats bodycam and dashcam video are covered below.

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

This guide is part of a broader look at police reports by state. For the filing side of a report rather than requesting a copy, see how to file a police report; for reading what one actually says, see how to read a police report.

Getting a Missouri Crash Report

If the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the crash, the report is requested through the Patrol Records Division. The fastest route is the online records request form linked from mshp.dps.mo.gov under Popular Links, then Patrol Records Request, then Traffic Crash Report Request. A mailed request goes to Patrol Records Division, P.O. Box 568, Jefferson City, MO 65102.

A basic motor vehicle crash report costs $6.00, payable by check, money order, or debit or credit card through the electronic process. MSHP is explicit that cash payments are not accepted and will be returned. Requesters should wait at least 10 days after the crash investigation date before requesting a copy, and MSHP's own page carries an active backlog notice: the Patrol states it is experiencing a backlog of crash reports and that some requesters may not receive their report for an extended period beyond that 10 day window.

If a local agency investigated the crash instead of MSHP, for example inside the city of St. Louis, the request goes to that agency. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department runs its own On-Line Records Portal for crash reports, criminal incident reports, calls for service, and background checks, alongside mail and in-person walk-in service through its Sunshine Law Unit at 1915 Olive Street, Room 562 (sunshinelawrequest@slmpd.org, 314-444-5388). SLMPD's page does not publish a crash-report-specific fee; its general Sunshine Law schedule is $0.10 per page for copying plus $15.00 per hour of research and location time, prorated quarterly.

Getting a Missouri Incident Report

Missouri does not have a separate incident-report statute. Both crash reports and general incident or arrest reports run through the same law, RSMo 610.100, Missouri's Sunshine Law provision for law enforcement records. The statute draws its open-versus-closed line around the status of the investigation, not around the type of report: mobile video recordings and investigative reports of a law enforcement agency stay closed while the investigation remains active, but the statute is direct on the other side of that line, stating that all incident reports and arrest reports shall be open records.

That open-records rule in subsection 2(1) is unconditional. It does not wait for the investigation to go inactive, and the definition of an investigative report in subsection 1(5) expressly excludes an arrest or incident report, so the active-versus-inactive clock in subsection 2(2) does not reach the incident report itself. What can still be withheld is a portion of the report rather than the whole record, under the redaction rule described in the corrections section below.

For a big-city example of how that plays out, SLMPD's Sunshine Law Unit handles incident-report requests through the same portal, mail, and walk-in channels described above for crash reports. SLMPD's page lists the record types its portal serves but does not spell out a fee or timeline specific to incident reports beyond the general research-fee schedule, so a requester should not assume the page answers every question about a specific record's status without contacting the unit directly.

Missouri Bodycam and Dashcam Footage

Missouri has no standalone bodycam act. Instead, RSMo 610.100 folds mobile video recorder rules directly into the same Sunshine Law section that governs incident and crash reports. The statute defines a mobile video recorder as any system or device capable of being installed in a vehicle or worn or carried by law enforcement personnel with camera and recording capability, and subsection 2(2) applies the same active investigation test used for investigative reports: mobile video recordings are closed records until the investigation becomes inactive.

Going inactive does not automatically open every recording. Subsection 2(4) separately authorizes a mobile video recording made in a nonpublic location to be closed, and that closure carries no active-versus-inactive condition and no expiry date. Subsection 1(8) defines a nonpublic location as a place where one would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, including but not limited to a dwelling, school, or medical facility. Footage shot inside a home, a school, or a hospital can therefore stay closed to the general public indefinitely, even long after the investigation is over. The people who can still obtain that recording are a short list: a person depicted in it or whose voice is on it, a minor's parent or legal guardian, a family member within the first degree of consanguinity if that person is deceased or incompetent, their attorney, or their insurer, each on written request, and each entitled to a complete, unaltered, and unedited copy. Anyone outside that list can still petition the circuit court under subsection 5, which weighs the public benefit against privacy harms before ordering release.

Subsection 8 adds a duty that lands on the requester rather than the agency. A person who receives a nonpublic-location recording may not display or disclose it, including any description or account of it, without first giving direct notice to each non-law-enforcement person whose image or sound it contains and allowing them time to go to court to block the release.

No dedicated statewide bodycam request portal or standard fee schedule was found this pass. A bodycam or dashcam request in Missouri runs through the deploying agency's ordinary Sunshine Law channel, the same office and portal used for a crash or incident report. For the law itself, see Missouri bodycam laws; for the request process in general, see how to request bodycam footage.

The active-versus-inactive line above is not the only path into a closed record. RSMo 610.100 subsection 4 gives a person involved in the incident, or their legal guardian, a family member within the first degree of consanguinity if that person is deceased or incompetent, their attorney, or their insurer, the right to obtain records closed under the section, including mobile video recordings and investigative reports, while the investigation is still active, specifically for investigating a civil claim or defense. Read the subsection closely on what that produces: its complete unaltered and unedited guarantee runs to the incident report, while for everything else it grants access to other records closed by the agency. The unaltered and unedited copy of a recording is promised by subsection 2(4) instead, and only to the people that paragraph names. The agency has 30 days from the written request to hand over the material or file a motion in circuit court explaining why the record should stay closed. For a crash victim, an insurer, or an attorney building a claim while the investigation is still open, this civil-claim route, not the wait-for-inactive-status default, is usually the faster path to Missouri bodycam or investigative-report material.

Corrections and What Missouri's Records Don't Answer

No Missouri-specific process for correcting an error on a crash report, comparable to the supplement-and-addendum model some other states use, was confirmed this pass. A reader who spots a mistake on a Missouri crash report should contact the investigating agency, either MSHP's Patrol Records Division or the local department, directly.

Missouri's Sunshine Law does carry victim-specific rules inside RSMo 610.100 itself, and they matter here because subsection 1(4) puts the name of the victim on the face of the incident-report definition. Subsection 3 is mandatory rather than discretionary: where any portion of an otherwise-open law enforcement record, other than an arrest report, contains information reasonably likely to pose a clear and present danger to the safety of any victim, witness, undercover officer, or other person, or to jeopardize a criminal investigation, that portion shall be closed and shall be redacted from any record made available. Subsection 7 separately lets the victim of a chapter 566 sexual offense request that their identity be kept confidential until a charge relating to the incident is filed. No juvenile-specific redaction rule appears on the face of 610.100. Anyone with a specific redaction question should raise it with the agency holding the record.

Related Resources

Police Reports by State covers the national picture. See also How to File a Police Report, How to Read a Police Report, Are Police Reports Public?, Missouri Bodycam Laws, Missouri Car Accident Laws, Missouri Public Records Laws, and Missouri Court Records.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about how to request Missouri police crash reports, incident reports, and bodycam footage. It is not legal advice. Fees, backlog conditions, and agency contact information change; verify current details with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the relevant local department, or a licensed Missouri 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a Missouri crash report cost?

A Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report costs $6.00, paid by check, money order, or card. Cash is not accepted. A local agency such as St. Louis Metropolitan PD may charge under its own general Sunshine Law fee schedule instead.

How long does it take to get a Missouri crash report?

MSHP asks requesters to wait at least 10 days after the crash before requesting a report, and its own page warns of an active backlog that can extend that wait well beyond 10 days.

Is a Missouri crash report a public record?

Yes. Subsection 2(1) of RSMo 610.100 states that all incident reports and arrest reports shall be open records, and it attaches no investigation-status condition; the active-versus-inactive limit in subsection 2(2) reaches mobile video recordings and investigative reports instead. Neither MSHP's crash report page nor Missouri's Sunshine Law states a requester eligibility restriction. An agency can still be required under subsection 3 to redact portions of an otherwise-open report.

Are Missouri police bodycam videos public record?

Not automatically. Bodycam and dashcam footage, called mobile video recordings under RSMo 610.100, is closed under subsection 2(2) while the investigation is active. Going inactive does not open all of it: subsection 2(4) separately authorizes a recording made in a nonpublic location, meaning somewhere with a reasonable expectation of privacy such as a dwelling, school, or medical facility, to be closed with no time limit. A person depicted in that recording, a minor's parent or guardian, a first-degree family member if that person is deceased or incompetent, their attorney, or their insurer may request a complete, unaltered, and unedited copy in writing. Separately, under subsection 4, a person involved in an incident, or their attorney or insurer, may obtain records closed under the section for a civil claim or defense, and the agency has 30 days to comply or move the circuit court.

How do I get a copy of an incident report from a Missouri police department?

Contact that department's records or Sunshine Law unit directly. St. Louis Metropolitan PD, for example, offers an online records portal, mail, and in-person walk-in service through its Sunshine Law Unit.