Original Classification Authority (OCA)

An Original Classification Authority is a government official who, by virtue of position and a written delegation of authority, may decide for the first time that specific information must be classified and at what level (Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret). This is distinct from derivative classification, where someone simply carries forward or restates a classification already established by an OCA. An OCA’s decision sets the foundation for everything that follows in the record’s life: the classification level, the reason for protection, and the duration or declassification instructions.

For recordkeeping, the OCA matters because their original determination drives the metadata that governs handling, marking, access controls, and eventual declassification review. When records reach an agency’s review for automatic or systematic declassification, the original OCA decision—captured in markings such as “Classified by,” “Reason,” and “Declassify on”—is the anchor that reviewers, archivists, and FOIA processors rely on. For example, only an OCA can newly classify a freshly drafted intelligence assessment; a staffer who quotes that assessment in a memo is performing derivative classification and must echo the OCA’s original instructions rather than create new ones.