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

New Hampshire's rule for who gets to see bodycam footage does not live where a reader would expect it. The bodycam statute itself, RSA 105-D, governs when officers must record and how long footage is kept, but not who can request a copy. That disclosure rule sits in a completely different chapter, New Hampshire's Right to Know Law, and it comes with a built-in carve-back that pulls some of the most serious footage back into public view.

Crash reports run on a separate track again, under the motor vehicle records statute, RSA 260:14, which closes those records notwithstanding the Right to Know Law and then supplies its own release routes. A general incident report runs through the same Right to Know Law that governs bodycam access. Below is how each piece fits together, including which New Hampshire operational facts could and could not be independently confirmed this pass.

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 rather than requesting a copy, see how to file a police report.

Getting a New Hampshire Crash Report

New Hampshire's underlying accident-report requirement is set by RSA 264:26, the Uniform Police Investigation Report of Accident. The police officer, agency, or individual who investigates a qualifying accident in the regular course of duty must, within 5 days of completing the investigation, forward one copy of the report to the state's Division of Motor Vehicles.

Once the report reaches the division it is a motor vehicle record. RSA 260:14, I(a) defines motor vehicle records to include reports required by law, and RSA 260:14, II(a) then provides that, notwithstanding RSA 91-A or any other provision of law to the contrary, and except as otherwise provided in that section, such records are not public records or open to the inspection of any person. The Right to Know Law is expressly displaced here, so a filed crash report is not something a reader obtains by sending an ordinary RSA 91-A request to the DMV.

The section supplies its own release routes instead. RSA 260:14, VII-a(a) provides that nothing in the section prohibits a law enforcement agency of a political subdivision from releasing copies of motor vehicle accident reports it prepared and filed with the division under RSA 264:25 and RSA 264:26 to an owner, operator, or passenger of a vehicle involved in the accident, a pedestrian hit by a vehicle in the accident, the owner of property damaged in the accident, the insurance company of any of those parties, or the authorized legal representative of any of them. Release is on a form prescribed by the department, and the agency may charge a reasonable fee, to be deposited into the general fund of that political subdivision. Subparagraph (b) extends the same route to accident reports the agency prepared that were not required to be reported under RSA 264:25 and RSA 264:26.

Separately, RSA 260:14, VII provides that a person has access to motor vehicle records relating to that person on proof of identity, and that records about a person may go to someone else on the notarized written consent of the record's subject.

For most readers the practical route is therefore the police department that investigated the crash, working from the statutory release authority above, rather than a public-records request. This guide does not publish a DMV fee or form number. The amount a local agency charges is whatever that agency sets as a reasonable fee under RSA 260:14, VII-a, so confirm it with the department holding the report.

Getting a New Hampshire Incident Report

New Hampshire's Right to Know Law, RSA 91-A, is the general framework governing access to government records, including police records, statewide. Paragraph IV of RSA 91-A:5 is the general law enforcement and privacy exemption: it protects records pertaining to internal personnel practices and other files whose disclosure would constitute an invasion of privacy. The paragraph then carves back a narrow permission, stating that without otherwise compromising the confidentiality of the files, nothing in the paragraph prohibits a public body or agency from releasing information relative to health or safety from investigative files on a limited basis to persons whose health or safety may be affected. That is a permission to tell an affected person something, not a public-release rule, and it is permissive rather than mandatory. A member of the public cannot use it to demand health or safety material out of an investigative file.

RSA 91-A:4, IV supplies the mechanics for any Right to Know request, including a request for a disclosable bodycam recording. If the record is not immediately available, the public body or agency must, within 5 business days of the request, either make the record available, deny the request, or provide a written statement of the time reasonably necessary to decide, the reason for the delay, and an itemized estimate of the cost. An agency denying a request in whole or in part must give a written statement of the specific exemption it is relying on and a brief explanation of how that exemption applies to the record withheld. If the agency uses its own copier or computer to produce the copy, it may charge the actual cost of providing the copy, and no fee may be charged for inspection or for delivery without copying.

RSA 264:26 sets the content and filing requirement for the underlying police accident report, while RSA 260:14 controls whether that filed report gets disclosed. RSA 91-A governs incident records generally, but it does not supply the answer for the filed accident report. The one place chapter 91-A does reach an accident report is RSA 260:14, II-a, which makes the accident report and related documents arising from a collision involving a vehicle owned or leased by the state, a county, a city, a town, or a local public entity a governmental record subject to inspection and disclosure under RSA 91-A, except where disclosure would risk exposing undercover law enforcement activity. That is a targeted exception rather than an extra overlay, and it confirms the ordinary rule: absent a government-owned vehicle, RSA 91-A is not the route.

New Hampshire Bodycam Footage

New Hampshire's dedicated bodycam statute is RSA 105-D. It applies to any law enforcement agency that chooses to equip its officers with body-worn cameras, and it requires that agency to adopt policies and procedures governing use, along with the retention and destruction of recorded data. RSA 105-D:2 sets activation rules, meaning cameras generally activate on arrival at a call for service or a law enforcement encounter and record continuously until the event concludes, along with a list of situations where recording is prohibited, including undercover officers, intimate searches, non-consenting crime victim interviews, anonymous tips, school grounds, and personal breaks. Residents may decline to be recorded in a place where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, absent a warrant. Standard retention runs 30 to 180 days, extended to a minimum of 3 years for recordings involving deadly force, serious injury, a firearm discharge, or a formal complaint. RSA 105-D:2-a was repealed effective August 1, 2025, and this guide does not cite it as current law.

What RSA 105-D does not do is set the public disclosure rule. That lives instead in New Hampshire's Right to Know Law, at RSA 91-A:5, paragraph X, which exempts video and audio recordings made by a law enforcement officer using a body-worn camera under RSA 105-D, with a specific and important carve-back: recordings depicting restraint, use of force, a firearm discharge, or a felony arrest are excluded from that exemption and become disclosable, though any portion that would still constitute a privacy invasion remains withheld even within those categories. A reader requesting New Hampshire bodycam footage should point to both statutes, RSA 105-D for what was recorded and how long it was kept, and RSA 91-A:5(X) for whether it can be released, and should expect the request to run on the RSA 91-A:4, IV timeline described above. For the general request process, see how to request bodycam footage and New Hampshire bodycam laws.

What Wasn't Confirmed This Pass

This guide does not publish New Hampshire's DMV crash-report fee, form number, or processing timeline as verified facts, and a reader dealing directly with the DMV should confirm them there. The statutory routes described above come from the statute text itself and do not depend on those pages: RSA 260:14, VII-a and VII for a crash report, and RSA 91-A:4, IV for the response deadline, written-denial requirement, and copy charge on a Right to Know request. New Hampshire sets no bodycam-specific fee or deadline, so a request for a recording that is disclosable under RSA 91-A:5(X) runs on the ordinary RSA 91-A:4, IV mechanics rather than on any separate schedule.

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?, New Hampshire Bodycam Laws, New Hampshire Car Accident Laws, New Hampshire Public Records Laws, and New Hampshire Court Records.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about how New Hampshire handles crash reports, incident reports, and bodycam footage. It is not legal advice. Current DMV fees and forms should be confirmed directly with the DMV, the relevant law enforcement agency, or a licensed New Hampshire 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

Where do I get a copy of a New Hampshire crash report?

Usually from the police department that investigated the crash. RSA 260:14, VII-a(a) allows a local law enforcement agency to release a copy of an accident report it prepared and filed under RSA 264:25 and RSA 264:26 to an owner, operator, or passenger of an involved vehicle, a pedestrian who was hit, the owner of damaged property, the insurance company of any of those parties, or an authorized legal representative, on a form prescribed by the department and for a reasonable fee. RSA 260:14, VII also gives you access to motor vehicle records relating to you on proof of identity. Confirm the DMV's form and fee directly with the DMV.

Can I get a New Hampshire crash report with a Right to Know request?

Generally no. Once the report is filed with the Division of Motor Vehicles it is a motor vehicle record, and RSA 260:14, II(a) provides that, notwithstanding RSA 91-A, such records are not public records or open to the inspection of any person except as that section provides. The exception is RSA 260:14, II-a, which makes an accident report involving a vehicle owned or leased by the state, a county, a city, a town, or a local public entity a governmental record subject to RSA 91-A, unless disclosure would risk exposing undercover law enforcement activity.

What law governs whether a New Hampshire police record is public?

For general incident records, New Hampshire's Right to Know Law, RSA 91-A. Paragraph IV of RSA 91-A:5 protects investigative and personnel-privacy material, and it permits releasing health or safety information from investigative files only on a limited basis to persons whose health or safety may be affected. That is a narrow permission to inform an affected person, not a general public-release rule. Crash reports filed with the Division of Motor Vehicles are governed instead by RSA 260:14.

How quickly does a New Hampshire agency have to answer a records request?

Under RSA 91-A:4, IV(b), if the record is not immediately available the agency has 5 business days to make it available, deny the request, or give a written statement of the time reasonably necessary to decide, the reason for the delay, and an itemized cost estimate. A denial must cite the specific exemption and briefly explain how it applies, and under IV(d) any copy charge is limited to the actual cost of providing the copy.

Is New Hampshire bodycam footage a public record?

It depends on what it shows. RSA 91-A:5, paragraph X, exempts bodycam recordings from disclosure by default, but recordings depicting restraint, use of force, a firearm discharge, or a felony arrest are carved back out and become disclosable, subject to ordinary privacy redactions.

Does RSA 105-D control who can get bodycam footage in New Hampshire?

No. RSA 105-D governs when officers must record, what may not be recorded, and how long footage is retained. The actual public-disclosure rule lives in a different chapter, RSA 91-A:5, paragraph X, and the request mechanics live in RSA 91-A:4, IV.

Is RSA 105-D:2-a still good law in New Hampshire?

No. RSA 105-D:2-a was repealed effective August 1, 2025. This guide does not cite it as current law, and readers should not rely on sources that still reference it as active.