How to get a car accident report in Montana

Montana provides state-police crash reports through MHP Crash Records (mail-in, state-direct). Crashes handled by local police or county sheriffs are requested from the responding agency (listed below).

Official source

MHP Crash Records (mail-in, state-direct)

Official Montana crash-report source — $2.00 per crash report (non-refundable search fee); $10.00 for crash photos. Cash, check, or money order ONLY — no electronic/online payment accepted.. State-police crashes; locals request from the responding agency.

Open the official portal→

Source: Montana — MHP Crash Records (mail-in, state-direct). Checked 2026-07-24. Details can change — always confirm with the official source.

Step by step

Identify the investigating agency. Determine who worked your crash. The Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) handles crashes on highways/interstates and in areas it patrols; a city police department or county sheriff handles crashes in its own jurisdiction. MHP does NOT house city- or county-investigated crash reports, so requesting from the wrong agency wastes time.
Confirm you are an entitled party. Under MCA 61-7-114 the report is confidential. You must be a person named/involved in the crash, or their attorney or insurer acting with written authorization (or an executor/administrator if someone died). A request from a non-entitled party will be denied.
Complete the MHP Crash Release Form. Download the Crash Release Form (PDF) from the MHP Crash Records page. A crash number is not required, but print legibly and include as much detail as possible — your name, the date, time, and location of the crash, and the parties involved — to help Records locate it.
Enclose the fee (no electronic payment). Include the $2.00 non-refundable fee per crash report ($10.00 for photos) by cash, check, or money order. Montana Highway Patrol Records cannot accept electronic or online payment.
Mail the request to MHP Records. Mail the completed form, your authorization/documentation, and the fee to: Montana Highway Patrol Records, P.O. Box 117, Boulder, MT 59632. Reports are not processed online. Allow reasonable processing time (the 10–14 day note on the form is not a firm deadline). Questions: 406-444-3278.

State police / highway patrol crashes

Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) is a division of the Montana Department of Justice. MHP Records accepts crash-report requests by MAIL ONLY. Complete the MHP Crash Release Form (from https://dojmt.gov/montana-highway-patrol/crash-records/), enclose the $2.00 non-refundable fee by cash/check/money order, and mail it with your entitled-party documentation to Montana Highway Patrol Records, P.O. Box 117, Boulder, MT 59632. There is no online ordering. By phone/email the office will release only a crash report number (not report content) — MHP Dispatch 855-647-3777, MHP Records 406-444-3278. A crash number is not required to order the report.

Crashes handled by local police or sheriffs

For crashes worked by a LOCAL agency (city police department or county sheriff), request the report directly from THAT agency's records unit — MHP explicitly does not house city- or county-investigated crashes. Montana has no statewide crash-report portal and Montana local agencies are not aggregated on LexisNexis BuyCrash or Carfax/crashdocs (verified: no Montana jurisdictions appear in this project's BuyCrash coverage index). Contact the specific investigating department by mail, in person, or via that agency's own online records-request form. Expect the same MCA 61-7-114 entitled-party restriction and that agency's own fee (often around $5–$15).

Who can get the report: Montana accident/crash reports are CONFIDENTIAL and NOT open to general public inspection (MCA 61-7-114(2)). MHP states plainly: 'Most records with Montana Highway Patrol are confidential... If you are not an entitled party your request will be denied.' A report may be examined/copied without a court order ONLY by an interested party: (a) a person named or involved in the crash; (b) that person's written-designated representative or their insurance carrier; (c) a party to a civil action arising from the crash; (d) the executor/administrator/attorney if a person died; or (e) the general public/commercial entities for vehicle-history research ONLY with all personal identifiers (names, addresses, phone, victim, peace officer, and insurer info) redacted. Because reports are interested-parties-only, the site must stay PROCESS-ONLY — no report content, no lookup of another person's crash.

After you get the report

Once you receive the report, use it to open or support your insurance claim (it documents parties, vehicles, date/location, and the officer's account of fault). Read it carefully and check for errors — misspelled names, wrong plate/VIN, incorrect date/time/location, or mistaken fault details — and contact the investigating agency promptly to request a correction, since insurers and any civil claim will rely on it.