To get traffic camera footage in Texas, you first need to know which agency runs the camera and whether that camera actually saved anything, then send a written public information request to that agency with the date, time, and exact location of what you want. The order matters. Many Texas Department of Transportation highway cameras stream live but do not archive, so a formal request will come back empty. City intersection cameras, police cameras, and some toll authority cameras are more likely to have recordings, but retention windows are short and shrinking every hour after the incident.
Which Cameras Actually Record
TxDOT operates hundreds of cameras along state highways and freeways, but they exist for live traffic monitoring at the department’s traffic management centers. As of early 2026, TxDOT highway cameras generally do not archive footage. If your incident happened on a state highway and you are counting on TxDOT video, there is a strong chance no recording exists.
Municipal cameras are different. City and county intersection cameras, especially those installed for signal enforcement or public safety, frequently record and store video for a limited period. These are typically run by a city transportation department, public works office, or the local police department depending on the municipality.
Law enforcement agencies also keep their own systems: dash cameras, body cameras, and fixed surveillance cameras near high-crime intersections. There is no central state repository for this video. You contact the specific department that operates the camera.1Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Public Information Act
Toll road authorities such as the North Texas Tollway Authority run large camera networks, but like TxDOT they may use most of them for live monitoring rather than archival recording. Call the toll authority’s open records office first and ask whether any footage exists before filing a formal request.
Move Quickly: Retention Windows Are Short
This is where most people lose the footage. There is no single statewide retention rule. Each agency sets its own schedule.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission publishes retention schedules that serve as a baseline; agencies can adopt longer periods but not shorter than the minimums.2Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Texas State Records Retention Schedule – 5th Edition Under the local schedule for public safety agencies, red-light camera video that does not capture a violation must be kept for at least 30 days, while general surveillance video retention is left to the agency’s discretion.3Texas State Library. Local Schedule PS, Retention Schedule for Records of Public Safety Agencies
In practice, many city traffic cameras overwrite footage on a rolling basis. Some systems hold video for as little as 72 hours. Others keep 30 to 90 days. The safe assumption is that your footage is disappearing. File within days, not weeks, and if you cannot file a formal request that fast, send a preservation letter first.
Filing a Public Information Request
The Texas Public Information Act, codified at Chapter 552 of the Government Code, gives you the right to request records from any Texas government body, including traffic camera footage.1Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Public Information Act The request must be in writing. Phone calls do not count.
Include the following in your written request:
- Your name and contact information, with an email or mailing address where the agency can respond.
- The date, approximate time, and exact location of the incident — intersection, highway mile marker, or street address.
- A police report number if one exists. This helps the agency locate footage faster.
- The format you want: digital copy, DVD, or in-person viewing.
Where you send the request depends on who runs the camera. TxDOT accepts requests through its Open Records Management and Tracking System portal, by email, or by mail to its Austin office.4Texas Department of Transportation. Submit an Open Records Request For city cameras, contact the city’s public information officer, police records division, or transportation department. Most larger Texas cities run an online portal or a dedicated email address for open records.
Preservation Letters
A preservation letter, sometimes called a spoliation letter, is a written notice telling an agency or private party to preserve specific evidence while you sort out the formal request or litigation. It is not a court order, but it puts the recipient on notice that the footage is relevant to a potential legal claim. If the agency destroys the footage after receiving the letter, a court may impose sanctions or allow a jury to assume the footage would have supported your case.
Send it as early as possible, ideally within 24 to 48 hours of the incident. Address it to the records custodian or public information officer, and include the same identifying details you would put in a public information request. Send it by certified mail or another method that creates proof of delivery. An attorney can draft it, but you do not need one; the letter just needs to identify the footage clearly and state that it must be preserved for potential litigation.
Response Times and Denials
The Public Information Act requires agencies to produce records “promptly,” without setting a hard deadline for simple requests. What counts as reasonable depends on how much footage you asked for and how hard it is to locate.1Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Public Information Act
The firm deadline in the statute kicks in when an agency wants to withhold your footage. To withhold, the agency must ask the Texas Attorney General for a ruling within ten business days of receiving your request. Within fifteen business days, it must send the Attorney General its legal arguments and copies of the records at issue.5State of Texas. Texas Government Code Chapter 552 Miss those deadlines and the information is presumed public.
Common reasons agencies deny traffic camera footage:
- The law enforcement exception in Section 552.108, which lets a law enforcement agency withhold information whose release would interfere with an active investigation. Basic information about an arrest or crime must still be released promptly regardless.6State of Texas. Texas Government Code Chapter 552 – Section 552.108
- Privacy concerns, when the footage shows identifiable individuals, license plates, or private property.
- No responsive records — the camera was not recording, or the footage was already deleted under the retention schedule.
If the Attorney General sides with the agency, Section 552.321 lets you file suit for a writ of mandamus in district court for the county where the agency’s main offices are located, asking the court to compel release.7State of Texas. Texas Government Code Chapter 552 – Section 552.321 The Attorney General can also file suit on your behalf in certain situations.
Fees
Agencies can charge for the labor and materials involved in locating, compiling, and copying footage. The Texas Administrative Code sets a standard labor rate of $15 per hour, covering the actual time spent locating and reproducing records.8Cornell Law School. 1 Texas Administrative Code 70.3 – Charges for Providing Copies of Public Information Postage or shipping can be added.
Ask for an estimate before the agency starts processing. Large requests typically require prepayment. Section 552.267 requires agencies to waive or reduce charges when providing the information primarily benefits the general public rather than the requester alone.9State of Texas. Texas Government Code Chapter 552 – Section 552.267 The statute does not provide a waiver based on personal financial hardship.
When You Need a Subpoena
If the public information route is denied, if the footage is held by an entity that will not cooperate, or if you are already in active litigation, a subpoena is the next step. A subpoena duces tecum compels production of specific documents or recordings. Your attorney files it with the court handling your case and serves it on the agency or business holding the footage.
The subpoena must identify the footage precisely: camera location, date, and time window. If the recipient challenges it, your attorney may need to file a motion to compel and explain why the footage is relevant. Courts generally look favorably on requests for objective video evidence, but they can narrow the scope if the request is too broad.
Private Cameras
Not every useful camera is government-owned. Gas stations, retail stores, office buildings, and residential doorbell cameras near an intersection may have caught the incident. The Public Information Act does not reach private parties, so you have no legal right to demand this footage the way you do with government records.
Go in person as soon as possible. Explain what happened and ask whether the camera covers the area. If the owner agrees, follow up with a written request describing the specific date and time. A police report number helps. Time is even tighter with private systems than with government cameras; many commercial setups overwrite within a week, and smaller systems can cycle in 48 hours. If the owner refuses and the footage matters to a legal claim, your attorney can subpoena it. Send a preservation letter in the meantime.
Using the Footage in Court
Getting the footage is only half the job. To be admitted as evidence, it has to be authenticated — someone must produce enough evidence to support a finding that the footage is genuine and unaltered under Rule 901.10Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell Law School. Rule 901 – Authenticating or Identifying Evidence For government footage, that usually means testimony from the records custodian confirming the footage came from the agency’s system, testimony describing how the camera system records and stores video accurately, or a certified public records copy documenting that the footage was recorded and filed in a public office as authorized by law.
Chain of custody matters. From the moment you receive the footage, keep the original file untouched. Do not edit, crop, or compress it. Store it in its original format, and document when you received it, from whom, and how. If opposing counsel argues the footage has been altered, that documentation is your defense.
Privacy Restrictions That May Limit Access
Two layers of law can restrict what you receive and how you can use it. Under the Public Information Act, agencies can withhold footage when disclosure would violate someone’s privacy rights, which comes up most often with domestic violence scenes, undercover officers, or areas where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
At the federal level, the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act restricts access to personal information tied to motor vehicle records, including data linked to license plate numbers. The DPPA does not directly govern the video itself, but if you are asking an agency to cross-reference a plate captured on camera with DMV records to identify a driver, DPPA restrictions apply. Violations carry civil penalties, so agencies are cautious about releasing plate-linked personal data without a qualifying purpose such as use in a civil lawsuit or a law enforcement investigation.
When privacy concerns limit release, you may receive redacted footage with faces or plates blurred, or the agency may require a court order specifying how the footage can be used. Courts sometimes issue protective orders that restrict the footage to the specific proceeding and prohibit public distribution. If the footage is critical, these limitations are usually workable; just plan for the extra time.