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Quarterly docket report

State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2016

Q2 2016 · full-year 2016 · next quarter →

The quarter in brief

DOHA judges decided 371 industrial security-clearance cases in Q3 2016, granting 40% of them. That is 2 points lower than Q2 2016 (42% of 412). A year earlier, Q3 2015 recorded 38% of 362. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 279 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 330 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 40 days longer than the prior quarter.

Decided cases
371
149 granted · 222 denied
Grant rate
40%
Q2 2016: 42% · Q3 2015: 38%
Appeal Board decisions
55
50 affirmed · 5 reversed or remanded

Month by month

  • July77 decided
  • August171 decided
  • September123 decided

Outcomes by concern

  • Financial Considerations (F)39%
    109 granted170 denied
  • Personal Conduct (E)25%
    20 granted60 denied
  • Foreign Influence (B)55%
    23 granted19 denied
  • Foreign Preference (C)52%
    12 granted11 denied
  • Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)36%
    8 granted14 denied
  • Criminal Conduct (J)20%
    3 granted12 denied
  • Alcohol Consumption (G)29%
    4 granted10 denied
  • Use of Information Technology (M)50%
    2 granted2 denied
  • Sexual Behavior (D)0%
    0 granted3 denied
  • Handling Protected Information (K)33%
    1 granted2 denied

† 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 Q3 2016 took a median of 330 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 358 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 290 days.

Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.

Hearing and written record

  • In-person hearing47% granted · 251 cases
  • On the written record26% granted · 119 cases

Representation

  • With an attorney60% granted · 67 cases
  • Self-represented36% granted · 301 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 2016-07-01 through 2016-09-30; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2016 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2016-q3). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.