How-To-Get a Traffic Collision Report from the Orange County Sheriff's Department
Obtaining the sheriff’s report following your car accident in Orange County may seem like a daunting task. The report must go through multiple departments and can sometimes take 30-45 days to be ready. The purpose of this page is to provide information on how to correctly request your Traffic Collision Report (TCR) the first time.
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Requesting a Traffic Collision Report (TCR) Following a Car Accident in Orange County, CA
Depending on the location of the car accident in Orange, the investigating officers are likely to be members of either the California Highway Patrol (CHP), local city police department (depending on the city), or the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD). The process for investigating a car accident and preparing a Car Accident Report (or TCR) is very different depending on which organization in investigating and reporting. Below you will find a detailed outline requesting a TCR from the OCSD after a car accident in Orange County. These steps are mandated by the OCSD and, based on our personal injury attorneys’ experiences, a must-follow if you want to successfully obtain your traffic collision report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
(For a complete outline of the process for getting your Traffic Collision Report from the CHP go here.)
Step 1: Determine if you qualify as a person entitled to the report
In order to be able to request a traffic collision report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, you will need to make sure you qualify as a person, under California law, that is entitled to request a copy of the report. Under California Law, Traffic Collision Reports can be released to any of the following people:
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Drivers involved in the collision (also includes pedestrians, cyclists, or motorcyclists involved in the accident);
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Registered owners of vehicles involved;
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Parents of a minor driver involved;
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Passengers involved AND listed in the report;
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Insurance companies;
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Those incurring property damage as a result of the accident;
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Those who may incur civil liability as a result of the accident; or
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Any attorney who declares under penalty of perjury that he or she represents any of the above persons.
Once you have determined that you qualify as a person entitled to request the TCR from the OCSD, you are ready to go through the somewhat rigorous process of actually obtaining the traffic collision report. So, on to Step 2…
Step 2: Make sure the report is available to request BEFORE REQUESTING
While it seems like common sense that a traffic collision report must be available before you can obtain it. However, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department goes a step further to say, they won’t accept any requests for reports that aren’t already completed and being held in the Records Department. So, prior to submitting your request, as further outlined below, you will need to FIRST call and confirm that the TCR is available.
When requesting the status of a car accident investigation and report within Orange County, you should call the OCSD Records Unit at (714) 834-6454 (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). They may ask you for: date, name, relationship to the accident, location of accident, and the report/investigation number (often found on the print-out or business card that the responding officer gave you at the scene.
Depending on the complexity of the report, it takes on average 7 – 10 days for a report to be finalized by the Deputy; approved by the Sergeant; and submitted to the Records Unit.
If you were involved in an accident or witnessed an accident and want to provide a statement prior to a report being completed, you can ask for the name and contact for the investigating officer. Typically, investigators want to gather as much information as possible and will be very welcoming of your call to help.
Once the OCSD Records Unit has confirmed that your TCR is available, you will need to fill out a formal request for the Orange County Sheriff’s Traffic Collision Report, as detailed below.
Step 3: Requesting the Traffic Collision Report
When requesting a traffic accident report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, it is important to follow the following steps:
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Fill out the request form completely. If filling out PDF form, only use black ink.
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Submit the completed form by email to reportrequest@ocsd.org; in person at 320 N. Flower St., Santa Ana, CA 92703; OR by mail to P.O. Box 449, Santa Ana, CA 92702.
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Based on the experience of our Orange County personal injury attorneys, the BEST PRACTICE is to submit the form via email to the address above and then wait for them to notify you that the request is approved.
Step 4: WAIT (Seriously… you’ll be waiting)
Now that you have followed the above directions and properly submitted your Request for TCR, the only thing you can do is wait. Pursuant to California Law, the Sheriff’s Department has up to 10 days to approve or deny your request. Rarely is it an immediate approval, but the sheriff’s office doesn’t usually take all 10 days. The Sheriff’s Department will typically confirm that they received the request and call you when the report is ready to be picked up.
If your request is approved, you will be contacted to arrange pick-up and payment of the report. If your request is denied, you will receive a written denial.
Step 5: Go pick it up
Once you have been notified that the report is ready, you can go pick up the Traffic Collision Report at 320 N. Flower St., Santa Ana, CA 92703. The cost of a TCR from the OCSD is fifteen cents ($0.15) per page.
Southern Orange County Accident Attorneys Serving All of Orange County
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We work closely with clients to create a strong, personal relationship and make them feel confident about our handling of their case. Unlike the giant firms, we are made up of a small team of skilled legal professionals that work collaboratively to resolve cases.
Our goal is help people through this trying time in any way that we can. In oversized firms, clients are shuffled from assistants and overworked case managers—rarely getting an opportunity to speak with their lawyer. At Rosen Law Offices, our lead attorney personally meets with every client and is directly involved in their case. Injuries are no small matter to the victims, and you deserve to know that your attorney is taking the case as seriously as you do.
Practice Areas
CAR ACCIDENTS
RIDESHARE ACCIDENTS
CYCLING ACCIDENTS
PEDESTRAIN ACCIDENTS
TRUCKING ACCIDENTS
PREMISES LIABILITY
BUSINESS LAW AND COUNSELING
