A division of government with a specific function offering a particular kind of assistance. In the Incident Command System, agencies are defined either as jurisdictional (having statutory responsibility for incident management) or as assisting or cooperating (providing resources or other assistance). Governmental organizations are most often in charge of an incident, though in certain circumstances private-sector organizations may be included. Additionally, nongovernmental organizations may be included to provide support. (NIMS 12/08) See below for common ICS definition of "agency" that includes non-governmental organizations. ? A division of government with a specific function, or a nongovernmental organization (e.g., private contractor, business, etc). that offers a particular kind of assistance. In ICS, agencies are defined as jurisdictional (having statutory responsibility for incident mitigation) or assisting and/or cooperating (providing resources and/or assistance). See: Assisting Agency, Cooperating Agency, and Multi-agency. (FIRESCOPE California)