Augusta has no city police. So who has your report?

CRASH REPORTS IN RICHMOND COUNTY

Who has your crash report in Augusta?

In Augusta and the rest of Richmond County, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office usually has your crash report. Augusta hasn’t had its own police department since the city and county consolidated in 1996. The main exceptions are Hephzibah, which has its own police, Augusta University property, crashes worked by the State Patrol, and Fort Gordon.

You’re sore, the car is in a tow lot, and someone from an insurance company already wants a recorded statement. Almost everyone who calls us after an Augusta wreck asks the same first question: where’s the police report? It’s a fair question, and here the answer surprises people who’ve moved in from somewhere else.

Don’t sign anything an insurance company sends you before you’ve seen the crash report and talked to a lawyer. Asking about the report is free. A signature can cost you.

Where the crash happened	Who usually has the report	How to ask for it
Anywhere in Augusta-Richmond County, downtown or rural	Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Records Bureau	Online through BuyCrash, or in person at 400 Walton Way
Inside Hephzibah city limits	Hephzibah Police Department	Contact the department on Highway 88
On Augusta University property	Augusta University Police	Contact the university police
I-20, I-520 or a state route where a trooper worked the scene	Georgia State Patrol	Through the State Patrol’s records process
On Fort Gordon	Military police	A federal process applies, so call us first
Across the line in Evans or Martinez	Columbia County Sheriff’s Office	See how Evans crash reports work

Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C. requests crash reports for the people we help every week, and the table above is the same map we use. If you’re not sure which row fits, you’re not alone. Mailing addresses around here don’t follow county or city lines, so the address on your license isn’t much help.

How do you get a report from the Sheriff’s Office?

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Records Bureau releases crash reports online through BuyCrash and in person at 400 Walton Way in downtown Augusta. The sheriff’s office says reports are generally available three to five days after the crash. It helps to have the report number, the date and the name of a driver involved.

Georgia limits who can get a crash report. People involved in the crash and their representatives generally can. If you weren’t involved, the Records Bureau asks for a Statement of Need form and a photo ID. There are small fees for copies, and they can change, so it’s worth checking before you go.

Can’t find the report number? The deputy usually hands out a card or slip at the scene with it written down. If you lost it or never got one, the Records Bureau can often find the report by date and location. Or call us, and we’ll do the looking.

Rather not deal with it? Call 706-806-9889. Tell us the date and the nearest cross street, and we’ll request the report for you.

What if you’re not sure where the line was?

Richmond County borders Columbia County to the west, and the line runs close to busy roads around Martinez and I-20. A crash on one side usually goes to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, and a crash on the other side to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Hephzibah is a separate city inside Richmond County, with its own police.

Two small cities, Hephzibah and Blythe, voted to stay out of the 1996 consolidation, so they kept their own governments. Blythe even crosses into Burke County at its edge. Near those places, it’s worth confirming who came to the scene before you request anything.

If you called 911 and an agency you didn’t expect showed up, that’s fine. The report still exists. It’s just with whoever worked the crash, and that agency is the one to ask.

Why the report matters for your claim

A crash report isn’t the final word on fault in Georgia, but insurance adjusters read it closely. The officer’s diagram, any citations, the witness names and the narrative often shape the first offer. If something in the report is wrong, the sooner you raise it, the easier it usually is to address.

That’s one reason our Augusta car crash lawyers pull the report early, before an adjuster has decided what your claim is worth. In a tractor-trailer wreck case, the report is often the first place we look for the trucking company’s name and the driver’s details. There’s zero fee unless we win.

Walking in Augusta can be dangerous, especially after dark. WRDW reported in 2025 that 53 people died over ten years on four roads alone: Peach Orchard Road, Mike Padgett Highway, Deans Bridge Road and Gordon Highway, most of them at night. If a driver hit you on foot, our lawyers for people hit while walking know the report is only the start.

What to do this week

You don’t need to do everything at once. A few steps in the first week protect most of what matters, and none of them require you to talk to the other driver’s insurance company. If you’re still in pain, start with the first two and let us handle the rest.

1. Write down the date, the time and the nearest cross street while you still remember them clearly.
2. Find the report number on the card or slip the deputy gave you.
3. Request the report, or ask us to request it for you.
4. Hold off on giving a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer before you’ve talked to a lawyer.
5. If a city or county vehicle was involved, call us right away, because a notice to Augusta’s government can be due in as little as six months.

Our downtown Augusta office is at One 10th Street, Suite 550, a few blocks from the Sheriff’s Office on Walton Way. Call any time, day or night, and there’s nothing to pay up front.

Words you’ll see on an Augusta crash report

Records Bureau. The part of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office that keeps and releases reports, including crash reports.

Report number. The number assigned to your crash. It’s the fastest way to find the right report.

Statement of Need. A short form someone who wasn’t involved in the crash fills out to explain why they need the report.

Consolidated government. A single government that does the job of both a city and a county. Augusta and Richmond County became one in 1996.

Responding agency. The police agency that came to the scene and wrote the report. It’s the agency that holds it.