Does a state or local government emergency management office have to follow federal declassification rules for classified records it receives?

Short answer

State and local governments generally cannot declassify federal classified records on their own. The authority to classify, downgrade, and declassify national security information rests with the federal government — specifically with the executive branch and the agencies that originated the classification. A local emergency management office that receives classified material is acting as a custodian under federal rules, not as an owner free to make its own declassification decisions.

Why federal rules follow the record

Classification status attaches to the information itself, not to the building or agency where a copy happens to sit. When classified information is shared with a non-federal partner, it travels with conditions: it must be safeguarded, handled, and ultimately dispositioned according to the federal classification framework. That framework is set by executive order and overseen federally, with the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) at the National Archives providing government-wide policy and oversight for classified national security information.

Key principles that typically apply:

• Original classification authority stays federal. Only the originating agency (or another delegated federal authority) can decide that information no longer needs protection.
• Recipients cannot unilaterally declassify. A state or local office may not release, downgrade, or treat classified records as open simply because it possesses them.
• Access often runs through a sharing arrangement. State and local emergency managers commonly receive sensitive information through programs that impose handling and clearance requirements.

What a state or local office is responsible for

While it cannot declassify, the receiving office is responsible for:

• Storing and transmitting the records under the required safeguards.
• Limiting access to cleared personnel with a genuine need to know.
• Following marking, dissemination, and destruction instructions provided by the originator.
• Referring any release request — including public-records or FOIA-style requests — back to the federal originator rather than deciding declassification locally.

The practical bottom line

A local emergency management office must follow the federal rules that govern the classified records it holds, but it does not gain the power to declassify them. State open-records laws do not override federal classification. When in doubt, coordinate with the originating federal agency and your records and information-security officials.

Learn more on the declassification topic hub.