Can the clinic retrieve the report for me?

Do not assume so. Use the official tool and bring the report or report number if available. Call the office if an authorized record request is needed.

What if I lost the report number?

Try the official search with the date, county, and involved name, or contact the responding agency.

What if the crash occurred outside Portsmouth?

Use the agency that responded where the crash occurred. The statewide Ohio tool may still be the starting point for reports filed by Ohio law enforcement.

Is a crash report public?

Public-record access and redactions depend on the record and Ohio law. Use the official agency or city process for an individual request.

How to find a Portsmouth or Scioto County crash report

A tidy desk with a blank crash-report folder, pen, phone, and a simplified Ohio road map — Keep the agency report, claim information, and health-care records in one folder—but do not treat them as the same document.

Search the statewide Ohio crash tool

Open the Ohio Department of Public Safety Crash Retrieval portal(opens in a new tab). Follow its current search prompts. Useful details may include:

Crash date.
County.
Name of an involved person.
Report or document number.
Responding agency.

The site is an official state resource. Do not pay an unrelated third-party report site unless you know what it is selling.

The state search copy and the official report are not the same thing

Ohio’s Crash Retrieval site(opens in a new tab) is useful for finding a crash. The Ohio Department of Public Safety says the reports shown there are not official documents and are provided for statistical use.

ODPS also says the investigating agency is the official record keeper. If you need the official report, the diagram, or supplemental information, contact the agency that investigated the crash.

Use this local decision path:

Portsmouth Police handled the crash: use the official Portsmouth Police Department page(opens in a new tab) or the City of Portsmouth public-records process(opens in a new tab).
Scioto County Sheriff’s Office handled the crash: use the Sheriff’s official public-records policy and records process(opens in a new tab).
Ohio State Highway Patrol or another Ohio agency handled the crash: use the statewide search(opens in a new tab) to help identify the record, then contact the investigating agency for the official copy.

The clinic’s Portsmouth address does not determine who keeps the report. The crash location and investigating agency do.

Illustration distinguishing Ohio's statewide crash search from the official report kept by the investigating agency. — Ohio's statewide crash search can help locate a crash, but the investigating agency is the official record keeper for the report, diagram, and supplemental material.

If Portsmouth police responded to the crash

The official Portsmouth Police Department page(opens in a new tab) has current department contact information. The city also publishes a public-records request page(opens in a new tab).

Contact whoever responded — a sheriff's office, the Highway Patrol, or a different city's department. If you kept the badge number or the card an officer handed you, that usually settles it; otherwise the crash location will.

What a crash report usually contains

A report may list the drivers, vehicles, place, and time. It may include road and insurance details, a diagram, tickets, and an officer's account. Fields vary by agency and event.

Read the document rather than relying on a one-line summary. If a fact looks wrong, ask the agency about its correction or supplemental process.

What a crash report does not replace

A crash report is not:

An emergency or medical assessment.
A chiropractic record.
An insurer's coverage decision.
A legal opinion.
A repair estimate.

Keep the report with the other records, but send health documents only through authorized channels.

Still not sure which agency has your report?
Call (740) 876-8394 and say where the crash happened. The office can point you at the right starting place — and if what you actually need is an appointment, you don't need the report number to ask for one. Prefer to be called back? Request a callback for scheduling basics.

Frequently asked questions

Terms such as reporting agency, jurisdiction, and report number are defined in the accident care glossary.

Once the report question is handled, the car accident care guide covers the health-care visit itself.

Related guides

Sources and further reading

Ohio Crash Report Search(opens in a new tab) — The Ohio Department of Public Safety provides the statewide search for crash reports filed by Ohio law enforcement agencies.
Portsmouth Police Department(opens in a new tab) — The City of Portsmouth publishes department contact information and current guidance for non-emergency police matters.
City of Portsmouth public records request(opens in a new tab) — How to ask the city for a copy of a public record.
Scioto County Sheriff’s Office public records(opens in a new tab) — The Scioto County Sheriff’s Office explains how public-records requests are handled and how to identify the records being requested.