Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2009
← Q3 2009 · full-year 2009 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 267 industrial security-clearance cases in Q4 2009, granting 31% of them. That is 6 points lower than Q3 2009 (37% of 380). A year earlier, Q4 2008 recorded 32% of 266. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 147 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 197 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 21 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- October81 decided
- November97 decided
- December89 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)29%42 granted105 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)23%21 granted70 denied
- Foreign Influence (B)43%16 granted21 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)26%9 granted25 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)21%7 granted27 denied
- Foreign Preference (C)27%6 granted16 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †25%4 granted12 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †27%3 granted8 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †56%5 granted4 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †67%2 granted1 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †50%1 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 42 | 105 | 29% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 21 | 70 | 23% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 16 | 21 | 43% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 9 | 25 | 26% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 7 | 27 | 21% |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 6 | 16 | 27% |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 4 | 12 | 25% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 3 | 8 | 27% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 5 | 4 | 56% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 2 | 1 | 67% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 1 | 1 | 50% † |
† 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 2009 took a median of 197 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 256 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 176 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing38% granted · 197 cases
- On the written record9% granted · 68 cases
Representation
- With an attorney45% granted · 49 cases
- Self-represented28% granted · 217 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 2009-10-01 through 2009-12-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2009 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2009-q4). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.