To get a copy of your CHP 202 DUI arrest report, submit a CHP 190 Application for Release of Information to the California Highway Patrol area office that handled your arrest, request it under the California Public Records Act, or — usually fastest — have your attorney obtain it through criminal discovery from the district attorney or court file. Whichever route you take, start immediately. The DMV gives you only 10 days from the date of your suspension or revocation order to request an administrative per se hearing, and the CHP 202 is the central document at that hearing.1California DMV. Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
Why the Timing Matters More Than the Paperwork
The CHP 202 is the standardized report a Highway Patrol officer completes after every DUI arrest or investigation, whether the impairment involved alcohol, drugs, or both.2California Highway Patrol. CHP 202 Driving Under the Influence Arrest – Investigation Report and CHP 216 Arrest – Investigation Report It carries the officer’s account of the stop, the field sobriety observations, the chemical test results, the implied consent admonition, and any statements you made. It becomes the primary exhibit at your DMV hearing and a key piece of evidence in the criminal case.
The catch is the deadline. Your license was likely taken at the scene and replaced with a temporary permit, and the suspension takes effect automatically unless you request the DMV administrative per se hearing within 10 days.1California DMV. Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Miss that window and there is no chance to contest the suspension at the DMV level. You request the hearing by contacting your local DMV Driver Safety Office by phone or in person.
Practically, this means you should request the hearing first and pursue the report second. You do not need the CHP 202 in hand to preserve your right to a hearing, and waiting for the report before calling the Driver Safety Office is how people lose the hearing before they ever get to it.
Requesting the Report Directly From CHP
If you are handling the case yourself, or you need the report before charges are formally filed, submit a CHP 190, Application for Release of Information, to the CHP area office that made the arrest.3California Highway Patrol. Request a Crash Report You can file it in person or by mail.
Fees vary, so contact the specific area office to confirm before sending payment. CHP’s published fee schedule for reports starts at $10 for documents up to 25 pages and increases in $10 increments for each additional 25-page block.4California Highway Patrol. Collision Report – CHP 190 The office may redact sensitive information before it releases the file.
A few practical points when you submit:
- Send the request to the area office that handled the arrest, not CHP headquarters. A different office cannot release a report it does not hold.
- Identify the report clearly. Include your full name, date of birth, the date and approximate time of the arrest, and the location of the stop.
- Keep proof of submission. If you mail the CHP 190, use a method that gives you a delivery receipt.
Requesting the Report Under the Public Records Act
You can also request the CHP 202 under the California Public Records Act, which recognizes access to records of government business as a fundamental right.5California Legislative Information. California Code Government Code 6250 – Inspection of Public Records Write the request as a Public Records Act inquiry, identify the report by your name, arrest date, and the CHP area that handled the case, and send it to the same area office.
This route is useful if you run into resistance through the standard CHP 190 process. The timeline is generally similar, so pick whichever channel the office you are dealing with responds to more readily.
Going Through Your Attorney
If you have hired a DUI attorney, the quickest path is almost always through them. Once charges are filed, the report becomes discoverable, and your lawyer can pull it from the district attorney’s office or the court file, often within days of the arraignment. For the DMV side, your attorney can subpoena the arresting officer’s records ahead of the hearing.
Attorneys also tend to have informal working relationships with local CHP offices and prosecutors that can shorten the wait considerably. If time is tight before your DMV hearing and the mail route looks slow, this is the leverage to use.
What You Should Find When the Report Arrives
Reviewing the CHP 202 carefully — line by line — is the whole point of getting it. Challenging inaccuracies in the report is a core strategy at the DMV hearing, and it works only if you spot the inaccuracies. Expect the report to contain:
- A face page with your identifying information, your vehicle’s details, the exact location of the stop, and the legal basis the officer cited for the stop. Standard DUI arrests reference California Vehicle Code Section 23152; injury cases escalate to Section 23153. Any passengers or witnesses the officer encountered should be listed here.6California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 23152 – Offenses Involving Alcohol and Drugs
- The officer’s observations of physical symptoms: checkbox entries for indicators such as odor of alcohol, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and unsteady balance, plus a narrative section describing your responses and behavior.
- Documented results of the standardized field sobriety tests — Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk-and-Turn, and One-Leg Stand — with structured fields for each scoring clue.
- The Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) result taken at the scene and the evidentiary breath or blood test administered after arrest. If blood was drawn, the report should document the time and the person who performed the draw.
- Confirmation that the implied consent admonition was read, along with your response. Under California Vehicle Code Section 23612, refusing the evidentiary test triggers an automatic license suspension of one year for a first refusal, a two-year revocation for a second within ten years of a prior DUI-related offense, and a three-year revocation for a third or subsequent refusal in that window.7California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 23612 – Chemical Testing
- A structured interview covering what and how much you drank or used, when you last ate, how much sleep you had, and any medical conditions. Answers are typically recorded verbatim, so any admissions here will appear in the officer’s own notes.
Read the interview section first. It is often the most damaging part of the report in court, and it is the section your attorney will want your recollection of soonest.
If a Drug Recognition Expert Was Involved
When drug impairment is suspected, or when the breath alcohol reading does not match the level of impairment observed, a Drug Recognition Expert may conduct a separate 12-step evaluation developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police with NHTSA.8International Association of Chiefs of Police. 12 Step Process The DRE’s findings typically produce a separate narrative report alongside the CHP 202. If your arrest involved a DRE, ask for those records specifically when you file your CHP 190 or Public Records Act request; they will not automatically come with the CHP 202 itself.
The Order To Do This In
The sequence that keeps you out of trouble looks like this. Call the DMV Driver Safety Office and request your administrative per se hearing within 10 days. Submit your CHP 190 or Public Records Act request to the arresting CHP area office, or ask your attorney to obtain the report through discovery. When the report arrives, read it against your own memory of the stop and flag anything inaccurate — the checkboxes, the field test scoring, the recorded statements, whether the implied consent admonition was actually given as documented. Those flags become the substance of what you or your attorney will raise at the hearing.