MnDOT Traffic Camera Evidence Preservation Protocol
Traffic-camera video can show exactly how a crash happened — and it disappears on a schedule nobody announces. This is the step-by-step protocol for getting preservation requests out before the footage is gone.
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Start Here
The Tool Writes the Request. This Page Explains the Clock.
If footage of your crash may exist, the fastest move is the firm's free preservation-request generator — it builds a written request you can send today. This page covers everything around that request: how Minnesota's camera systems actually work, who holds which footage, how fast it purges, and when the situation calls for an attorney's letter instead of a form.
Generate a Preservation RequestKnow the System
Who Runs Which Cameras in the Saint Paul Area
MnDOT's freeway cameras are run out of the Regional Transportation Management Center in Roseville (1500 West County Road B2), where MnDOT Freeway Operations and the State Patrol work side by side. Two facts about these cameras surprise people. First, they exist to manage traffic, not to document crashes — only some of them record at all, and MnDOT publishes a separate online list of cameras with recorded video at videorequest.511mn.org. Second, per MnDOT, the system cannot read license plates, and cameras sit on only some state highways.
Everything off the freeway belongs to someone else. City and county traffic cameras follow their own rules, and some are live-view only. Businesses, gas stations, apartment buildings, and doorbell cameras near the scene are often the best evidence — and the fastest to overwrite.
The Protocol
Five Steps, Starting Today
Identify every camera that could have seen the crash
Check MnDOT's recorded-video camera list at videorequest.511mn.org and note the camera ID for any camera near your location — requests need it. Then walk the scene in your mind: signals at the intersection, storefronts, canopies, ATMs, doorbells. Write down the date, the time window, and your direction of travel.
Send the MnDOT request the same day
MnDOT accepts camera-footage requests through its Freeway Operations request process and delivers any available video electronically by email. Include the camera ID, date, time window, and location. The preservation-request generator produces the written request for you.
Cover the non-MnDOT cameras in parallel
Do not wait on MnDOT's answer before contacting anyone else. Ask nearby businesses and homeowners to hold their footage — many private systems overwrite in 24 to 72 hours. For city or county cameras, contact the agency that owns the road and ask whether the camera records and how to request video.
Back it up with a Data Practices request
Government video is government data. Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (Minnesota Statutes chapter 13), government data is presumed public, and you can formally request it — agencies may charge actual costs for copies. One catch: MnDOT says it generally completes data-practices requests within 30 days, and footage may not survive that long. Treat this as the paper trail, not the rescue.
Escalate to a spoliation letter when a claim is on the table
Once someone is on notice that footage matters to a legal claim, destroying it can carry consequences in court. A preservation letter from an attorney — often called a spoliation letter — is how that notice gets created and documented. If your injuries are serious, this letter should go out before the retention clock runs, not after.
Deadlines
The Real Deadline Is Technical, Not Legal
MnDOT's own guidance says recorded video is kept only for a limited period — it does not publish a fixed number of days. Private systems are worse: a gas-station DVR or doorbell camera may loop over your crash within a day or two. So the deadline that matters here is not a statute of limitations. It is the moment a hard drive overwrites itself.
That is why this protocol front-loads everything into the first day. A request sent this afternoon can succeed where a subpoena served next month finds nothing left to produce. If your case does reach litigation, the post-filing subpoena guide for vehicle and phone data explains how compelled production works once a lawsuit exists.
Important Information: Andrade Law is not affiliated with the Minnesota Department of Transportation or any city or county agency. Camera coverage, recording practices, retention periods, and request procedures are set by the agencies that own the cameras and can change without notice — verify current procedures with the agency before relying on them.
This page is general information and is not legal advice. Contacting Andrade Law does not create an attorney-client relationship. Representation begins only after Andrade Law and the client sign a written engagement agreement. Every case depends on its own facts, and no result is guaranteed.