Oregon
Oregon Police Reports: How to Get a Crash or Incident Report
Oregon splits crash-report responsibility more sharply than most states, and there is no single state portal that sells a copy of a police crash report the way Texas, Florida, or California do. A driver's own accident report goes to the DMV, which is legally barred from giving that driver a copy back. A police-generated crash report has to come from whichever local agency investigated.
This guide walks through that split system, Oregon's law enforcement records exemption, and Oregon's body camera access rule, which some statute databases miss entirely because it sits inside a general exemption section rather than a standalone bodycam chapter.
Information last verified on 2026-08-11. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.
How to Get an Oregon Crash Report
Oregon treats a driver's own accident report and a police-generated crash report as two different documents with two different access rules, and neither one runs through a centralized state sales portal.
If you were in a crash meeting Oregon's reporting threshold, injury, death, or more than $2,500 in property damage, you are required to file the Oregon Traffic Accident and Insurance Report, Form 735-32, with DMV within 72 hours, through DMV2U online, by mail, by fax, or in person. That filing is a one-way submission. ORS 802.220(5) specifically bars DMV from giving you a copy of your own report back after you file it.
A police-generated crash report is a separate document, and it does not come from a state portal at all. This research pass did not find or confirm a centralized Oregon State Police or ODOT portal that sells police crash reports, the way Texas's TxDOT CRIS or Florida's crash portal do. Instead, contact the specific local law enforcement agency, city police department, county sheriff, or Oregon State Police, that investigated your crash directly for their records-request process and fee schedule.
DMV's own contact points for the driver-filing side are Customer Assistance at 503-945-5000 (TTY 711), the DMV Crash Reporting Unit at 503-945-5098, or by mail to Accident Reporting Unit, DMV, 1905 Lana Ave NE, Salem, OR 97314.
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How to Get an Oregon Incident Report
Oregon's law enforcement records exemption lives at ORS 192.345(3), not at ORS 192.340, which some older references cite; 192.340 is only the Attorney General's duty to maintain a public catalog of exemptions, not the exemption itself. The actual substantive language reads:
Investigatory information compiled for criminal law purposes. The record of an arrest or the report of a crime shall be disclosed unless and only for so long as there is a clear need to delay disclosure in the course of a specific investigation...
That is a disclosure-first standard. The default is that an arrest record or crime report is disclosed, and an agency needs a clear, specific, ongoing investigative reason to delay that disclosure, not a general claim that the matter is under investigation. Requests go to the records unit of the department or sheriff's office that investigated.
Body Camera Footage in Oregon
Oregon is easy to mistake for a state with no bodycam access law, because the provision is not a standalone statute; it is a subsection buried inside the same general exemption section covering incident reports, ORS 192.345(40):
Audio or video recordings, whether digital or analog, resulting from a law enforcement officer's operation of a video camera worn upon the officer's person that records the officer's interactions with members of the public while the officer is on duty.
This provision sits alongside Oregon's general investigatory-information exemption as its own conditional category. Practically, a request has to identify the specific incident by date and time, and before disclosure, the faces of everyone in the recording, including the officer, must be rendered unidentifiable. Separately, a recording that has been sealed in a court's record of a proceeding, or that a court has otherwise ordered not disclosed, may not be disclosed under this subsection at all, regardless of whether the other conditions are met.
Keep this provision separate from ORS 133.741, a different statute that governs how Oregon officers must operate their cameras in the first place, not who can get a copy afterward. That statute sets a continuous-recording trigger once an officer has reasonable suspicion or probable cause, requires footage to be kept for a minimum of 180 days and a maximum of 30 months, and bans facial-recognition technology on the footage. Oregon splits the how-recording-must-work question from the who-can-get-a-copy question across these two different statutes; do not conflate them.
For the broader statewide legal landscape, see our Oregon body camera laws page and our general guide to requesting body camera footage.
Related Resources
- Police Reports by State covers the full 50-state picture.
- How to file a police report
- How to read a police report
- How to request body camera footage
- Are police reports public records?
- Oregon body camera laws
- Oregon car accident laws
- Oregon public records laws
- Oregon court records
Disclaimer
This article provides general information about Oregon's police report and body camera access laws. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Fees, portals, and forms change; confirm current details with the relevant state agency or law enforcement agency before relying on them. Consult a licensed Oregon attorney about your specific situation.
Last updated: 2026-08-11. Fees and portals reflect their published status as of August 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a state portal to buy an Oregon crash report?
No confirmed centralized portal exists for police-generated crash reports. Contact the specific local police department, county sheriff, or Oregon State Police that investigated your crash directly.
Can I get a copy of my own accident report from Oregon DMV?
No. ORS 802.220(5) specifically bars DMV from giving the filer a copy back after submitting Form 735-32, the required driver accident report.
What is Oregon's law enforcement records exemption?
ORS 192.345(3), which starts from a presumption of disclosure: an arrest record or crime report must be disclosed unless there is a clear, specific need to delay disclosure during an ongoing investigation.
Does Oregon have a body camera access law?
Yes, ORS 192.345(40), though it is a subsection within the state's general records exemption rather than a standalone bodycam statute.
What is the difference between ORS 192.345(40) and ORS 133.741 in Oregon?
ORS 192.345(40) governs who can get a copy of body camera footage. ORS 133.741 is a separate statute governing when an officer's camera must record and how long footage must be retained.
How long must Oregon law enforcement retain body camera footage?
Under ORS 133.741, a minimum of 180 days and a maximum of 30 months.
Updates
Governing law re-checked for recent changes
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources
The Law Behind This Article
This article rests on 2 statutory provisions held in our own legal record, each retrieved from the official source. Tap a section to read the operative text.
Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 192: Records; Public Reports and Meetings
§ 192.340Attorney General catalog of exemptions from disclosureIn force
(1) The Attorney General shall maintain and regularly update a catalog of exemptions created by Oregon statute from the disclosure requirements of ORS 192.311 to 192.478. The catalog must be as comprehensive as reasonably possible and must be freely available to the public in an electronic format that facilitates sorting and searching of the catalog. (2) The catalog required by subsection (1) of this section must include the following information for each exemption: (a) A citation to the Oregon statute or statutes creating the exemption from the disclosure requirements of ORS 192.311 to 192.478; (b) The relevant text of each statute creating the exemption; (c) If the exemption has been construed by a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court or Court of Appeals, a citation to that decision; (d) To the extent that the exemption is specific to a particular public body or particular types of public bodies, a description of the public body or bodies to which the exemption relates; and (e) Additional information as the Attorney General deems appropriate.
Official text (excerpt) · as of 2026-07-29 · Read the full section at oregonlegislature.gov
Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 810: Road Authorities; Courts; Police; Other Enforcement Officials
§ 810.460Officer’s accident report; useIn force
(1) A police officer shall submit a report to the Department of Transportation whenever the officer does any of the following: (a) Investigates a vehicle accident which ORS 811.725 or 822.600 requires to be reported. (b) Prepares a report of an accident investigated at the time and place of the accident or by field interviews with the participants or witnesses. (2) A police officer shall submit a report required by this section to the department within 10 days of the investigation or preparation of the report. (3) Police reports submitted to the department under this section are subject to release or use as provided under ORS 802.240.
Official text (excerpt) · as of 2026-07-29 · Read the full section at oregonlegislature.gov
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Sources and References
- ORS 810.460 (officer's accident report; submission to ODOT)(oregonlegislature.gov).gov
- Oregon DMV, Accident and Insurance Report page (Form 735-32, DMV2U, ORS 802.220(5) no-copy rule)(oregon.gov).gov
- ORS 192.345(3) (law enforcement investigatory information exemption)(oregonlegislature.gov).gov
- ORS 192.345(40) (body-worn camera recording exemption)(oregonlegislature.gov).gov