Tennessee crash report: how to get your copy

Three ways to get a Tennessee crash report

The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security lists three ways to obtain a crash report, and puts them in this order: go online, go to a Highway Patrol district office, or request it by mail. Alongside those, any sheriff's office or city police department that investigated a crash can sell you the report from its own office.

Start with who investigated

The department's instructions say there are a few factors to consider before requesting a report, and name the most important one: was the crash investigated by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, or by another agency, meaning a county sheriff's office or a city police department?

The answer decides the cheaper routes. A Highway Patrol district office sells the patrol's reports. A city's records office sells the city's. The online service is the one place that asks you to name the reporting agency as part of the search.

If you are not sure, look at whatever the officer handed you. The department asks buyers for the Agency Tracking Number, so the paper that carries that number also tells you which agency wrote the report.

The state's online service

Purchase TN Crash is run as a Tennessee state service. The department describes what it sells as an official copy of your crash report. Three things about it are worth knowing before you begin.

You need an account

New users must sign up for the service. Returning users log in.

The search needs five details

Four are required every time: the last name, the date of the accident, the reporting agency and the driver's license number. The fifth is your choice of one from three: the VIN, the license plate, or the case or tracking number.

Payment is by credit card

The cost is $10.00. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover are accepted. A prepaid card cannot be used. The department also notes that the search results do not display your address, to protect your privacy.

What to have ready

• The agency. The Highway Patrol, a sheriff's office or a city police department. The online search will not run without it.
• The date of the crash and the county. Both are asked for at a counter and by mail.
• The names of the drivers. The online search needs one last name. A counter request asks for the names of the drivers involved.
• A driver's license number. Required online.
• One more identifier. The VIN, the license plate, or the case or tracking number.
• The right kind of payment. A credit card online, and not a prepaid one. A check or money order by mail. In Memphis, anything except a personal check.
• ID, if you are a Tennessee resident asking Memphis police. It is what gets you the per page price.

Buying online, step by step

1. Open Purchase TN Crash and sign upThe department's page links to it under Go Online. New users have to subscribe before the search opens.
2. Enter the four required detailsLast name, date of the accident, reporting agency and driver's license number.
3. Add one identifierThe VIN, the license plate, or the case or tracking number. Use whichever you can read off your own paperwork.
4. Check the resultThe results do not show your address. Match the date and the agency before you pay.
5. Pay $10.00 by credit cardVisa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover.

Tennessee agencies side by side

Memphis police reports in detail

The Memphis Police Department releases both incident reports and auto crash reports through one office, Central Records. A request can be made online, in person, by mail or by fax.

The gap between the resident and the visitor price is the detail to notice. A Tennessee resident who shows valid ID pays by the page. Someone from another state pays a flat $15.00 for the same report. If you live in Tennessee, bring ID that shows it.

Highway Patrol district offices at a glance

The Highway Patrol has eight district offices. Each is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in its own time zone, and each sells reports for crashes in its own counties.

The full list of counties for each district, with street addresses, is on the Highway Patrol page.

Find your county's Highway Patrol office

For a trooper's report, the office to ask is the one that covers the county where the crash happened. This list puts all 95 Tennessee counties in alphabetical order, each with the city of its district office.

• Anderson Knoxville
• Bedford Lawrenceburg
• Benton Jackson
• Bledsoe Chattanooga
• Blount Knoxville
• Bradley Chattanooga
• Campbell Knoxville
• Cannon Cookeville
• Carroll Jackson
• Carter Fall Branch
• Cheatham Nashville
• Chester Jackson
• Claiborne Fall Branch
• Clay Cookeville
• Cocke Fall Branch
• Coffee Chattanooga
• Crockett Memphis
• Cumberland Cookeville
• Davidson Nashville
• Decatur Jackson
• Dekalb Cookeville
• Dickson Nashville
• Dyer Jackson
• Fayette Memphis
• Fentress Cookeville
• Franklin Chattanooga
• Gibson Jackson
• Giles Lawrenceburg
• Grainger Fall Branch
• Greene Fall Branch
• Grundy Chattanooga
• Hamblen Fall Branch
• Hamilton Chattanooga
• Hancock Fall Branch
• Hardeman Memphis
• Hardin Jackson
• Hawkins Fall Branch
• Haywood Memphis
• Henderson Jackson
• Henry Jackson
• Hickman Lawrenceburg
• Houston Nashville
• Humphreys Nashville
• Jackson Cookeville
• Jefferson Fall Branch
• Johnson Fall Branch
• Knox Knoxville
• Lake Jackson
• Lauderdale Memphis
• Lawrence Lawrenceburg
• Lewis Lawrenceburg
• Lincoln Lawrenceburg
• Loudon Knoxville
• Macon Cookeville
• Madison Jackson
• Marion Chattanooga
• Marshall Lawrenceburg
• Maury Lawrenceburg
• McMinn Chattanooga
• McNairy Jackson
• Meigs Chattanooga
• Monroe Knoxville
• Montgomery Nashville
• Moore Lawrenceburg
• Morgan Knoxville
• Obion Jackson
• Overton Cookeville
• Perry Lawrenceburg
• Pickett Cookeville
• Polk Chattanooga
• Putnam Cookeville
• Rhea Chattanooga
• Roane Knoxville
• Robertson Nashville
• Rutherford Nashville
• Scott Knoxville
• Sequatchie Chattanooga
• Sevier Knoxville
• Shelby Memphis
• Smith Cookeville
• Stewart Nashville
• Sullivan Fall Branch
• Sumner Nashville
• Tipton Memphis
• Trousdale Cookeville
• Unicoi Fall Branch
• Union Fall Branch
• Van Buren Cookeville
• Warren Cookeville
• Washington Fall Branch
• Wayne Lawrenceburg
• Weakley Jackson
• White Cookeville
• Williamson Nashville
• Wilson Nashville

Built from the county lists on the department's page, read on 12 November 2026.

Asking by mail

A mailed request for a Highway Patrol report goes to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Financial Responsibility Division, PO Box 945, Nashville, TN 37202-0945. It must come with a cashier's check, a money order, or a personal or business check for $4.00, and it should give the address where the report is to be sent. The department asks you to allow two to three weeks from the mailing date.

Give the same four details the department asks of every buyer: the date of the crash, the county in which it occurred, the names of the drivers involved and the agency tracking number.

What a Tennessee crash report costs

The online price is the same wherever you are. The counter prices reward going in person, most of all for Tennessee residents in Memphis.

How long it takes

The department gives one clear figure. Highway Patrol reports are available approximately 7 days after the date of the crash at the district office. By mail the figure is two to three weeks from the day you post the request. Memphis police do not publish a waiting time on their Central Records page.

Who may get the report

For a Highway Patrol report the department's rule is one sentence. Any driver, owner or passenger, or their agent or legal representative, may purchase a copy. Memphis police ask for valid ID from Tennessee residents and do not list who may buy on the Central Records page.

When it goes wrong

You went to the wrong office

A district office only has reports for its own counties, and only those the Highway Patrol investigated. Call the office first with the county and the date. For a crash a city officer worked, go to that city's records office.

You have no tracking number

Online, use the license plate or the VIN as the fifth detail. At a counter or by mail, give the date, the county and the drivers' names.

The online search finds nothing

Check that you picked the right reporting agency, since the search requires it. If the crash is recent, try again after the 7 days the department gives for Highway Patrol reports.

You are from another state

The online service and the mail both work from anywhere. Remember that Memphis police charge people from out of state a flat $15.00, and that the department's online service takes credit cards but not prepaid cards.

Tennessee pages on this site

• AgencyTennessee Highway PatrolThree ways to get a trooper's report, the $4.00 and $10.00 prices, and the eight district offices with the counties each one covers.
• Agency · with launchNashville Police Report

Tennessee crash report questions