Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2008
← Q3 2008 · full-year 2008 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 266 industrial security-clearance cases in Q4 2008, granting 32% of them. That is 7 points lower than Q3 2008 (39% of 331). A year earlier, Q4 2007 recorded 41% of 134. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 136 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 160 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 6 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- October88 decided
- November85 decided
- December93 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)32%44 granted92 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)23%26 granted86 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)16%9 granted48 denied
- Foreign Influence (B)47%23 granted26 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)19%7 granted29 denied
- Foreign Preference (C)38%12 granted20 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †11%2 granted17 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †0%0 granted6 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †75%3 granted1 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted4 denied
- Outside Activities (L) †50%1 granted1 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †0%0 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 44 | 92 | 32% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 26 | 86 | 23% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 9 | 48 | 16% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 23 | 26 | 47% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 7 | 29 | 19% |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 12 | 20 | 38% |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 2 | 17 | 11% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 0 | 6 | 0% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 3 | 1 | 75% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 0 | 4 | 0% † |
| Outside Activities (L) | 1 | 1 | 50% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
† fewer than 20 decided cases, too few to generalize. Cases often raise several concerns, so rows overlap.
Time from Statement of Reasons to decision
Cases decided in Q4 2008 took a median of 160 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 250 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 154 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing38% granted · 189 cases
- On the written record14% granted · 76 cases
Representation
- With an attorney37% granted · 51 cases
- Self-represented30% granted · 214 cases
An association in the decided record, not a measure of what representation causes: represented and self-represented cases can differ in many ways.
Population: decided hearing-level STANDARD_ISCR decisions dated 2008-10-01 through 2008-12-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2008 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2008-q4). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.