How to get a car accident report in North Dakota

Step by step

1. Confirm the crash is reportable and enough time has passed. Only crashes 'reportable' to NDDOT are purchasable — those with injury, a fatality, or at least $4,000 in total property damage (N.D.C.C. § 39-08-09). Wait at least 10 days after the crash so the investigating agency can submit its report and NDDOT can accept it into the North Dakota Crash Record Database.
2. Gather at least two search identifiers. You need any TWO of: the Date of the Crash, a party's Last Name, and the County where the crash occurred. If you don't have these, contact the law enforcement agency that investigated the crash to get them.
3. Open the NDDOT Purchase Crash Report portal. From dot.nd.gov go to Travel & Safety > Safety > 'Purchase Crash Report' (or Driver > Online Services for Drivers). The 'Purchase Crash Report' button launches the state's Prime Public Safety purchase site.
4. Acknowledge and identify your requester type. Select whether you are a party to the crash, a party's legal representative, an insurer to a party, or not a party, then click Agree. A false statement on the request is a Class A misdemeanor (N.D.C.C. § 12.1-11).
5. Search, pay the $7 fee, and download. Enter your two identifiers to locate the report, pay the $7 fee by card, and download your copy immediately. Parties, their legal reps, and insurers receive the complete report; other requesters receive a copy with certain personal fields (driver license number, phone, insurance policy number, date of birth, and minors' data) redacted.

State police / highway patrol crashes

There is no separate North Dakota Highway Patrol / State Patrol ordering system. NDHP-investigated (trooper) crashes flow into the same statewide NDDOT Crash Record Database, so you obtain a Highway Patrol crash report through the same NDDOT 'Purchase Crash Report' portal (ndcrash.primepublicsafety.com) for $7, using two of Date/Last Name/County. The statepatrol.nd.gov website itself has no crash-report purchase page and directs records requests to NDDOT; for questions the NDHP main line is 701-328-2447.

Crashes handled by local police or sheriffs

One statewide portal covers everyone. Every law enforcement officer who investigates a reportable crash — Highway Patrol, city police, or county sheriff — must forward the report to NDDOT within 10 days (N.D.C.C. § 39-08-13(3)), where it enters the central North Dakota Crash Record Database. So crashes handled by local city PDs and county sheriffs are purchased from the SAME NDDOT 'Purchase Crash Report' portal ($7). North Dakota does not use LexisNexis BuyCrash or Carfax crashdocs. Exception: minor crashes that are NOT reportable (under $4,000 damage, no injury/fatality) are never sent to NDDOT and won't appear in the portal — for those, or to get missing search details, contact the investigating local agency directly.

North Dakota agencies (4)

Pick the agency that responded to your crash for its exact request process:

• Bismarck Police Department
• Fargo Police Department
• Grand Forks Police Department
• Jamestown Police Department

After you get the report

Use the report for your insurance claim — parties, their legal representatives, and insurers get the complete report including driver and insurance details, while non-parties get a copy with certain personal fields redacted. Review it carefully for errors: names, vehicle and plate info, crash date, location, the diagram, and the officer's narrative/contributing-factor findings; if something is wrong, contact the investigating law-enforcement agency to request a correction or supplemental report. Note that under N.D.C.C. § 39-08-13(8) a crash-report copy is not admissible as evidence in a damages or criminal action.