Declassification Process

Not only do documents go through a classification process, but they also go through a declassification process over time. Documents may be declassified for a number of different reasons, just like they are classified for different reasons. "The Record Declassification Division of the National Archives systematically reviews security-classified documents after they reach 25 years of age" (www.lib.berkeley.edu). Once the records go through a reviews process to see if they are still a threat to national security, they are then released to the public. Some records may go back into the classification system, such as records from the House of Representatives and the Census . However, hey cannot stay in the system for forever and will eventually be released to the public after some time.