Houston Police Department Records: Phone, Reports, and Body Cam

The Houston Police Department Records Division phone number is 713-308-8585. For crash reports specifically, call 713-308-8500 and press option 3. The Records Division sits on the first floor of the Edward A. Thomas Building at 1200 Travis Street, Houston, TX 77002, and is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.¹

Which Number to Call

The general Records line at 713-308-8585 connects you with staff who handle every type of HPD record: crash reports, offense reports, and public information requests.² If you already know you need a crash or accident report, calling 713-308-8500 and choosing option 3 skips a step and puts you with the crash-report staff directly.¹

You can also walk in. The public service counter is on the first floor at 1200 Travis Street, weekdays only, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring a valid photo ID if you plan to pick up records in person. There are no weekend hours.

Getting a Crash or Accident Report

Crash reports are the most common request, and HPD offers three ways to get one.¹

Online. Purchase through the Texas Department of Transportation’s system at buycrash.lexisnexisrisk.com. You’ll verify your identity and your connection to the crash under penalty of perjury before the full report is released.
By mail. Send a check or money order for $6.00 payable to the City of Houston, a completed H.B. 2633 form, and a self-addressed stamped envelope to HPD Records Division, 1200 Travis, Houston, TX 77002. The H.B. 2633 form is on the HPD website in English and Spanish.
In person. Bring payment and a completed H.B. 2633 form to the first-floor public service counter.

The $6.00 fee is set by state law, and a certified copy costs an additional $2.00.³ Full, unredacted copies are available only by mail or in person with the H.B. 2633 form, or through BuyCrash after you complete its equivalent verification questionnaire.

What You Need to Provide

You don’t need every detail. HPD asks for at least two of the following:¹

Date of the accident
Location of the accident
Names of drivers or other parties involved
The incident number, if you have it

The incident number speeds things up but is optional. If you were in the crash, it’s usually on the officer’s business card or on paperwork you got at the scene.

Who Can Get the Full Report

Texas law limits unredacted crash reports to people with a direct connection to the collision: anyone involved, their legal representatives, insurers covering a vehicle or person in the crash, employers or parents of a driver involved, and owners of damaged property.³ Licensed media qualify as well. Anyone else can request a redacted version that removes identifying details.

Offense Reports and Other Records

Offense reports, dispatch records, and most other HPD documents fall under the Texas Public Information Act rather than the crash-report process. Texas Government Code Chapter 552 gives you a right to those records, and the agency can’t ask why you want them.⁴

Submit your request through the City of Houston’s online open records portal, by mail to the Records Division at 1200 Travis Street, or in person at the public counter.⁵ Provide the incident or case number if you have one, plus the date and location of the event and the names of anyone involved. More detail means a faster search.

One boundary worth flagging: 911 recordings and dispatch audio don’t come from HPD. Those requests go to the Houston Emergency Center.

Fees

Non-crash records follow the statewide cost schedule in the Texas Administrative Code. Standard paper copies are $0.10 per page.⁶ Larger requests that require staff time can be charged at $15.00 per hour for personnel, plus a 20 percent overhead charge. Requests of 50 or fewer pages generally don’t carry a labor charge. Electronic media costs $1.00 for a CD or $3.00 for a DVD; USB drives are billed at actual cost. You’ll get a cost estimate before the department starts on a large request, and you can narrow the scope if the estimate runs high.

How Long It Takes

Under the Public Information Act, the agency must either produce the records or tell you in writing about a delay within 10 business days.⁷ Any delay notice must give a specific date and time when the records will be ready. If HPD believes something is exempt from disclosure, it has to ask the Texas Attorney General for a ruling; it can’t just refuse.⁸ If nothing happens within 10 business days, the Attorney General’s Open Records Division can compel a response.

Body Camera Footage

Body-worn camera video is a public record, but it takes longer to release than a paper report because the department reviews and redacts each clip. Faces of uninvolved bystanders, minors, medical information, and confidential investigative details are typically blurred or removed.

Submit body camera requests through the same open records portal, or by mail to the Records Division. Include the date, time, and location of the incident, plus the officer’s name or badge number if you have it. A case number helps. Expect a fee estimate before processing begins, since redaction labor can drive the cost well above a standard paper request.

When Records Can Be Withheld

Not every part of a police file is releasable. The Public Information Act lets agencies withhold information that could endanger someone’s physical safety, compromise an ongoing investigation, or identify a confidential informant. Juvenile records, certain victim information, and material protected by court order are also exempt.⁸ When something is redacted, the department has to identify the legal exception that justifies it. You can challenge a withholding decision through the attorney general’s ruling process.

If You Want Your Own Record Removed

If you’re calling Records because you want your own HPD file taken down, that’s a court matter, not a Records Division matter. Texas offers two tools depending on how your case ended: an expunction destroys the record entirely, and is generally available if you were acquitted, if your charges were dismissed and the waiting period has passed, or if you were pardoned.⁹ An order of nondisclosure is for people who completed deferred adjudication or certain community supervision; it doesn’t destroy the record, but it stops most public disclosure, including to private employers and landlords.¹⁰ Both require filing a petition in the court that handled the original case. HPD does not process these petitions, but the department is bound to comply once a court signs the order.

1
City of Houston. Houston Police Department – Public Information Requests
2
City of Houston. Houston Police Department – Phone Directory
3
State of Texas. Texas Transportation Code TRANSP 550.065
4
Texas House of Representatives. Texas Public Information Act
5
City of Houston. City of Houston eGovernment Center – Public Information Act Requests
6
Legal Information Institute. 1 Tex. Admin. Code 70.3 – Charges for Providing Copies of Public Information
7
Justia Law. Texas Government Code Chapter 552 – Public Information
8
Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Overview of the Public Information Act
9
State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure CRIM P Art. 55.01
10
Texas Courts Online. Overview of Orders of Nondisclosure