Montana Crash Reports: Highway Patrol, Forms and Fees
Who has your crash report, what drivers must report, insurance rules and traffic deaths in Montana.
If you crashed in Montana, who has your report depends on whether you were inside a city or out on the highway.
Who Has Your Montana Crash Report
Montana law sends crash notice by location. Under MCA 61-7-108, a crash inside a city or town is reported to its police department, and a crash anywhere else goes to the county sheriff or the nearest Montana Highway Patrol office. Helena police, for example, send people whose crash happened outside city limits to the Highway Patrol. Montana has no toll roads, so no toll authority keeps reports of its own.
Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) crash reports are requested by mail only. MHP, a division of the Montana Department of Justice, says it processes no records requests online. Fill out the MHP Crash Release Form and mail it to Montana Highway Patrol, P.O. Box 117, Boulder, MT 59632. The search fee is $2 per crash report, plus $10 for the photos, paid by cash, check or money order, with no electronic payment and no refunds.
You don’t need the crash number, but give MHP as much detail as you can: the date, county, location or milepost, nearest town, driver names and the trooper’s name. MHP’s forms print a 10 to 14 day turnaround, but MHP says that period is not a deadline, and large requests or records stored elsewhere can take longer. Photos come on a CD by mail, or by the State File Transfer Service if you include an email address. MHP holds no photos from city or county crashes.
MHP releases reports only to the people MCA 61-7-114 allows: anyone named in the report, any driver, passenger or pedestrian involved, anyone whose property was damaged, a party to a civil lawsuit, the executor or administrator of someone who died, insurers of those involved, and anyone they designate in writing. Questions go to MHP Records at (406) 444-3278 or [email protected]. By phone or email, MHP will release only the crash number.
Don’t want to deal with the forms, or not sure which agency took your report? We can get a copy of your report for you at no cost.
Police Reports From Montana Cities
City police departments keep their own crash reports, and each one sets its own steps and fees. Start with the department that responded to your crash:
| Department | How to request | Fee |
| Billings Police | Online through the city’s Order Police Reports page, paid by card; ready about 10 business days after the crash; Records (406) 657-8460 | $29 |
| Missoula Police | Call 406-552-6303 first, then send the Accident Request Form; staff take requests and payment by phone; about 7 to 10 business days | $7 for people involved; $26 for anyone else; $26 for photos |
| Great Falls Police | Request form with a notarized signature, by mail or pickup; 2 to 4 weeks | $15 per request, check or money order to City of Great Falls |
| Helena Police | Online through CrashDocs; in person at the Law Enforcement Center; or by mail to Helena Police Dept., Attn: Records, 406 Fuller Ave., Helena, MT 59601 with a copy of your driver’s license and a self-addressed stamped envelope; Records 406-447-8469 | $15 by mail; online fee not posted |
| Bozeman Police | Through Gallatin County Records, second floor of the Judge Guenther Memorial Center, 1709 W. College St., Bozeman; 406-582-2005 | Not posted |
| Missoula County Sheriff | Call 406-258-4810. Missoula treats crash reports as confidential, releasing them to people involved, their insurers, or a third party with a signed release. | Not posted |
What Montana Drivers Must Report
Under MCA 61-7-108, a driver in a crash that injures or kills someone, or causes apparent property damage of $1,000 or more, must give notice right away by the quickest means available. That call goes to the local police department inside a city or town, and otherwise to the county sheriff or the nearest Highway Patrol office. To reach a trooper about a crash nobody reported, MHP Dispatch is 855-647-3777.
MCA 61-7-109 adds a written report within 10 days for crashes with injury, death or more than $1,000 in damage, unless a law enforcement officer investigated and filed a report. For a crash no officer worked, MHP takes the driver’s report on its White Form, mailed to P.O. Box 117, Boulder, MT 59632, or faxed to 406-444-4169. A White Form does not create a crash number.
The law also bars using a driver’s written report as evidence at a civil or criminal trial over the crash.
Montana Insurance and Fault Rules
Every Montana driver must carry liability insurance of at least $25,000 for injury or death of one person, $50,000 for two or more people in one crash and $20,000 for property damage (MCA 61-6-103). The state’s Commissioner of Securities and Insurance lists the same minimums.
Montana uses a fault-based system: the driver who caused the crash, through their liability insurance, helps pay for the other side’s losses. Montana does not require personal injury protection (PIP). Uninsured motorist coverage comes with every Montana policy unless the policyholder signs a form rejecting it (MCA 33-23-201).
Fault can be shared. Under MCA 27-1-702, an injured person can still recover if their share of the negligence is not greater than the combined negligence of the people they’re suing, and the award shrinks by their own percentage. If their share is greater, they recover nothing.
Claims against the state go in writing to the Montana Department of Administration under MCA 2-9-301, and no lawsuit can be filed until the department denies the claim. The department has 120 days to decide, a claim with no answer by then counts as denied, and the filing deadline pauses for those 120 days. Claims against a city or county are filed with that government’s clerk.
Montana Traffic Deaths by the Numbers
| Measure | Figure | Year | Source |
| Traffic deaths so far this year | 127 in 119 fatal crashes through Sept. 29, against 156 at the same point in 2025 (preliminary) | 2026 | Montana Highway Patrol Weekly Fatal Report |
| Deaths in crashes with completed investigations, January to June | 78, against 93 for the same months of 2025 | 2026 | Montana Highway Patrol Weekly Fatal Report |
| People killed in traffic crashes | 198 (preliminary) | 2025 | Montana Department of Transportation, Vision Zero, from Highway Patrol crash data |
| People killed in traffic crashes | 193 (preliminary year-end) | 2024 | Montana Highway Patrol, as reported by NBC Montana |
Montana Crash Guides by City and County
Crash coverage from Montana’s cities and counties is grouped below:
County accident news: Yellowstone County · Cascade County · Missoula County · Flathead County · Gallatin County · Park County · Lake County · Lewis and Clark County
Highway stretches and intersections across the state are ranked on our Montana intersections page.
Help After a Crash
- Local Accident Reports. After a crash, we can connect you with local help, from doctors and body shops to injury attorneys. Contact our team.
- Montana Crime Victim Compensation Program. Run by the Department of Justice, it covers crash victims when the crash involved drunk driving or illegal drug use, paying up to $25,000. The crime must be reported to police within 72 hours and the claim filed within one year, unless you can show good cause. 1-800-498-6455 or (406) 444-3653.
- MADD. Free support for people hurt by drunk or drugged drivers and their families. 24-hour help line: 877-MADD-HELP (877-623-3435).
- 988. Call or text 988 any time for crisis support. –
Trauma centers. Montana’s two Level I trauma centers are Billings Clinic and St. Vincent’s Healthcare, both in Billings, per the state health department’s designated trauma facility list.
Montana Crash Questions
How do I get a Montana Highway Patrol crash report?
Mail the MHP Crash Release Form to Montana Highway Patrol, P.O. Box 117, Boulder, MT 59632, with $2 per report, or $10 more for photos, by cash, check or money order. MHP takes no online requests. Only people involved, those named in the report, their insurers and others the law allows can get a copy. MHP Records is (406) 444-3278.
Do Montana drivers have to file their own crash report?
Sometimes. A crash causing injury, death or more than $1,000 in damage needs a written report within 10 days under MCA 61-7-109, unless an officer investigated and filed one. The Highway Patrol takes these driver reports on its White Form, by mail to its Boulder office or by fax. Drivers must also notify police right away after such a crash.
Is Montana a no-fault state?
No. Montana is fault-based and does not require PIP, so the at-fault driver’s liability insurance helps pay the other side’s losses, with minimums of $25,000, $50,000 and $20,000. Fault can be shared: a person whose negligence is not greater than that of the people they sue recovers a reduced amount, and one whose share is greater recovers nothing.
How long do I have to file a car accident claim in Montana?
Three years for injury and three years for wrongful death (MCA 27-2-204), or 10 years when the death results from a homicide. Property damage claims have two years (MCA 27-2-207). A claim against the state goes in writing to the Department of Administration, which has 120 days to decide while the deadline pauses. City and county claims go to that government’s clerk.
Recent Montana Crash Coverage
Serious T-Bone Crash on Hwy 93 Near Ronan, MT
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Serious Motorcycle Crash on Grand Ave in Billings, MT
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Fatal Crash on I-90 Near Deer Lodge, MT
Fatal Accident
1 Dead After Fatal Crash on I-90 in Livingston, MT
You can find all current and also older stories in the Montana accident news archive, and recent accident alerts track new crashes across the country as they come in.
Disclaimer: Local Accident Reports compiles this information from public agency sources for general reference. It is not legal advice and is not an official police record. Fees, forms and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you send a request. Last updated October 2026.
Local Accident Reports compiles this information from public agency sources and published reports for general reference. It is not legal advice and is not an official police record. Fees, forms and deadlines change, so confirm with the agency before you send a request. Last updated October 2026.