SOR
Statement of Reasons
What it is
The document that sets out, allegation by allegation, why the government is not presently able to find that access is clearly consistent with the national interest. It is the start of the due-process stage, not the end of the case.
What you do
Respond within the stated deadline, answering each allegation. Cases are lost by default far more easily than they are lost on the merits.
Also called
SOR, statement of reasons, security concerns letter, statement of security concerns.
Where this comes from
DOHA — Industrial Security Program. DOHA: where the finding cannot be made, "a Statement of Reasons (SOR) is issued to the individual", and the SOR with the response goes to DOHA.
Where this sits
Stage: Adverse action, hearing and appeal · Applies to: Defense and contractor
Other documents at this stage
How the process worksA contested case follows a published sequence. Open this for the short version, or put a question to Ask Mode on the home page. Accounts are free and include up to 25 questions per day.
A contested case follows a published path: a Statement of Reasons, the government's written list of its concerns (an SOR), a written answer, a hearing or a decision on the written record, the judge's decision, and in some cases an appeal.
Read the stages of a DOHA case · Ask a question about the process
Checked against the issuing agency's own published source. Descriptive research on published procedures. Not legal advice, and not a prediction about any pending case.
Where to go from here
I do this for clients
Rank every decision by how closely it matches a matter, see how the assigned judge has ruled, and keep it together with cited exports.
For attorneys and firms →I am researching or teaching
Statistics, exports, monitoring, and the API, arranged individually. For scholarship and public interest work that usually means no charge.
Request access →Decided public cases: descriptive, never a prediction.