How to Get a State-Level Crash Report in West Virginia

Short answer

If the West Virginia State Police (WVSP) investigated your crash, request a copy through the State Police’s official Criminal and Crash Report Request Form and its Traffic Records Section. The form asks for the crash date, location, drivers, and crash-report number if available. It lists $20 for a mailed copy, $25 for a certified copy, and $25 for a faxed copy.

West Virginia has statewide crash-data collection: qualifying investigating officers send reports to the Division of Highways, and the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) says it manages the State Crash Records Database. The official WVDOT page reviewed, however, does not publish a procedure for a person to order an individual report from that database. The WVSP form likewise does not say it is a guaranteed source for reports written by every local agency.

Start with the investigating agency. Use the WVSP form if a State Police trooper investigated. If municipal police, a county sheriff, campus police, tribal police, or another agency investigated, ask that agency’s record custodian for the report. West Virginia’s public-records law directs requests to the custodian of the requested record.

Immediate checklist

Identify the investigating agency from an information sheet, incident card, citation, or insurance correspondence.
Gather the crash date, location, each driver’s name, and the report number if you have it.
For a State Police report, complete the WVSP request form. WVSP publishes (304) 746-2128 for vehicle crash-report information.
Use the delivery and payment instructions printed on the form; keep a copy of your request.
For a local investigation, send a reasonably specific request to that agency’s records custodian.

For a broader document checklist, see the AccidentFiling.ai car-accident evidence checklist.

The state-level record path—and its limit

Official resource	What it does	What to do
WVSP Traffic Records Section	WVSP publishes a crash-report form, phone number, and Traffic Records Section contacts.	This is the published route for a report investigated by WVSP.
Division of Highways / WVDOT	Qualifying officer reports go to the Division of Highways; WVDOT says it manages the State Crash Records Database.	This confirms statewide crash-data collection, but the reviewed WVDOT page does not offer a public individual-report ordering process.

The Division of Highways supplies crash-report forms to State Police, municipal police departments, sheriffs, and other suitable agencies. That statewide reporting structure is not the same as an official statement that one request form retrieves every local agency’s copy. See West Virginia Code §17C-4-7 and §17C-4-9.

Who reports what after a crash?

These requirements concern notice and officer reporting, not how to order a copy later.

Task	Official West Virginia rule
Driver’s immediate notice to law enforcement	After a crash causing injury, death, or apparent total property damage of $1,000 or more, the driver must immediately notify municipal police if the crash is inside a municipality; otherwise, the county sheriff or nearest WVSP office. §17C-4-6
Notice if the driver cannot make it	A capable occupant must make or cause the required notice when the driver is physically unable to do so. §17C-4-8
Investigating officer report	For a qualifying crash on a public street or highway, the investigating officer must prepare a report within 24 hours after completing the investigation and submit it to the Division of Highways within 24 hours after completion. If the investigation cannot be completed within 10 days, a preliminary report is due on day 10, then the final report after completion. §17C-4-7
Basic party and insurance information	On request, the investigating officer must provide specified owner, operator, and insurance information at no cost to the other involved parties and their respective insurance agents within 24 hours of the crash, whether or not the report is complete. §17C-4-7

The official materials reviewed establish an immediate-notification rule and officer-reporting duties. They do not establish a general separate driver self-report filing with the DMV or a DMV report-copy procedure. An officer report also does not substitute for any notice required under an insurance policy.

How to request a WVSP crash report

Use the official form. WVSP links the Criminal and Crash Report Request Form from its Traffic Safety Section.
Provide the requested details. The vehicle-crash section requests the crash date, location, driver or drivers, and crash-report number; it also requests the requester’s name and address.
Use the listed contact route. The form lists: WVSP Traffic Records Section, 701 Jefferson Road, South Charleston, WV 25309; phone (304) 746-2128; fax (304) 746-2206; email wvsp.crashreports@wvsp.gov. It instructs the requester to use the applicable listed method, including payment and a self-addressed envelope.
Check delivery details before paying. The form identifies mail, email, and fax for crash reports, but does not state a separate email-copy fee. Call WVSP if you need that detail.

Who may request a record?

West Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act says every person may inspect or copy a public record unless an exemption applies. A request must go directly to the record custodian and reasonably specify the information sought. For State Police-held records, WVSP’s Legal Division directs FOIA requests to the Superintendent, ATTN: FOIA Request, 725 Jefferson Road, South Charleston, WV 25309-1698, or foia@wvsp.gov.

The custodian must, as soon as practicable and within no more than five days excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, furnish the records, advise when and where they may be inspected or copied, or deny the request in writing with reasons. This is a response rule; it does not guarantee that a report is already complete or releasable. West Virginia Code §29B-1-3.

Documents, fees, and waiting period

Before requesting a WVSP report, gather your name and mailing address, the crash date and location, the drivers’ names, and the crash-report number if known. The official form uses those identifiers.

Item on WVSP Form 141	Stated charge
Vehicle crash report by mail	$20.00
Certified vehicle crash report	$25.00
Vehicle crash report by fax	$25.00
Reconstructed crash report	$500.00
Video/audio tapes	$50.00
Set of photographs, up to 12	$25.00

The form (revised January 2024) says these charges apply to reports of 50 pages or fewer, with $1 per sheet after 50 pages. It states the actual-report fee is non-refundable and gives payment instructions. WVSP does not publish a stated waiting period before asking for a copy. The officer-report timing above is not a promise that a public copy will be available by a particular time.

If the report is unavailable or was made by a local agency

Make the request to the agency that investigated the crash. A municipal police department, sheriff, campus police department, tribal police department, or other agency may hold its own investigative record. Under §29B-1-3, request the record directly from that custodian, using the date, location, drivers, and report number if available.

If WVSP cannot find a record, ask whether another agency investigated and then contact that agency. The WVSP form says a request may not be processed when the information is incomplete or no report can be found based on the information submitted.

West Virginia law presumes public access, but it also has exemptions, including specified law-enforcement records dealing with criminal detection and investigation. A written denial must state the reason. That does not decide the release of any particular crash report; the custodian must address the specific request. §29B-1-4

For additional government-report resources, visit the AccidentFiling.ai guides and resources.