Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2015
Decided cases
380
187 granted · 193 denied
Grant rate
49%
187 of 380 decided · Q3 2015: 38%
Statement of Reasons to decision
292 days
median across 363 cases stating both dates
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 380 industrial security clearance cases in Q4 2015, granting 49% of them. That is 11 points higher than Q3 2015 (38% of 363). A year earlier, Q4 2014 recorded 45% of 308. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 278 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 292 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 15 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
Outcomes by concern
| Concern | Cases | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F · Financial Considerations | 278 | 128 | 150 | |
| E · Personal Conduct | 91 | 35 | 56 | |
| H · Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse | 44 | 26 | 18 | |
| B · Foreign Influence | 36 | 21 | 15 | |
| C · Foreign Preference | 16 | 9 | 7 | |
| J · Criminal Conduct | 16 | 7 | 9 | |
| G · Alcohol Consumption | 13 | 5 | 8 | |
| K · Handling Protected Information | 6 | 6 | 0 | |
| D · Sexual Behavior | 5 | 1 | 4 | |
| I · Psychological Conditions | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| M · Use of Information Technology | 1 | 1 | 0 |
- Cases
- 278
- Granted
- 128
- Denied
- 150
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 91
- Granted
- 35
- Denied
- 56
- Grant rate
H · Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse
- Cases
- 44
- Granted
- 26
- Denied
- 18
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 36
- Granted
- 21
- Denied
- 15
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 16
- Granted
- 9
- Denied
- 7
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 16
- Granted
- 7
- Denied
- 9
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 13
- Granted
- 5
- Denied
- 8
- Grant rate
K · Handling Protected Information
- Cases
- 6
- Granted
- 6
- Denied
- 0
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 5
- Granted
- 1
- Denied
- 4
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 2
- Granted
- 1
- Denied
- 1
- Grant rate
M · Use of Information Technology
- Cases
- 1
- Granted
- 1
- Denied
- 0
- Grant rate
Time from Statement of Reasons to decision
- Median: 292 days, measured on 363 cases stating both dates.
- Prior quarter: 277 days, measured on 357 cases.
Full breakdowns are on measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
| Path | Cases | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|
| Decided after a live hearing | 232 | |
| Decided on the written record | 147 |
Decided after a live hearing
- Cases
- 232
- Grant rate
Decided on the written record
- Cases
- 147
- Grant rate
Representation
| Representation | Cases | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|
| Represented by a lawyer | 59 | |
| Self-represented | 320 |
Represented by a lawyer
- Cases
- 59
- Grant rate
Self-represented
- Cases
- 320
- Grant rate
An association, not proof of cause: the groups being compared differ in many ways.
Cite this report
CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2015 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2015-q4)
How these numbers are measured
The population is decided hearing-level industrial security clearance decisions dated 2015-10-01 through 2015-12-31. Appeal Board decisions are counted separately and never mixed into the hearing figures. † marks a group built on fewer than 20 decided cases, too few to generalize, and a case raising several concerns counts under each of them. Figures are computed live from the record as it stands today, so decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their own quarter automatically. Definitions and checks are on the methodology page.
Reading the statistics
- Granted = access granted or continued; Denied = denied or revoked.
- Grant rate = granted ÷ (granted + denied).
- † marks figures based on fewer than 20 cases, too few to be reliable.
- Hovering any rate shows its statistical range (a 95% confidence interval).
- Figures are descriptive counts over decided, public DOHA ISCR decisions, never predictions or assessments of any pending case.
Where to go from here
Get help with my case
Send us your question, or the Statement of Reasons you received. No charge, and a CASE analyst reads it. Usually five to ten business days.
Ask a question →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 →Decided public cases: descriptive, never a prediction.