Quarterly docket report

State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2016

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The quarter in brief

DOHA judges decided 353 industrial security-clearance cases in Q4 2016, granting 44% of them. That is 4 points higher than Q3 2016 (40% of 371). A year earlier, Q4 2015 recorded 49% of 378. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 260 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 360 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 30 days longer than the prior quarter.

Decided cases

353

157 granted · 196 denied

Grant rate

44%

Q3 2016: 40% · Q4 2015: 49%

Appeal Board decisions

53 affirmed · 4 reversed or remanded

Month by month

October126 decided
November128 decided
December99 decided

Outcomes by concern

Financial Considerations (F)43%
112 granted148 denied
Personal Conduct (E)33%
22 granted45 denied
Foreign Influence (B)50%
23 granted23 denied
Criminal Conduct (J)44%
12 granted15 denied
Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)44%
11 granted14 denied
Foreign Preference (C) †60%
9 granted6 denied
Alcohol Consumption (G) †46%
6 granted7 denied
Sexual Behavior (D) †0%
0 granted3 denied
Handling Protected Information (K) †67%
2 granted1 denied
Use of Information Technology (M) †67%
2 granted1 denied
Outside Activities (L) †0%
0 granted1 denied

Concern	Granted	Denied	Grant rate
Financial Considerations (F)	112	148	43%
Personal Conduct (E)	22	45	33%
Foreign Influence (B)	23	23	50%
Criminal Conduct (J)	12	15	44%
Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)	11	14	44%
Foreign Preference (C)	9	6	60% †
Alcohol Consumption (G)	6	7	46% †
Sexual Behavior (D)	0	3	0% †
Handling Protected Information (K)	2	1	67% †
Use of Information Technology (M)	2	1	67% †
Outside Activities (L)	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 2016 took a median of 360 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 332 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 330 days.

Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.

Hearing and written record

In-person hearing54% granted · 243 cases
On the written record24% granted · 110 cases

Representation

With an attorney61% granted · 75 cases
Self-represented39% granted · 276 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 2016-10-01 through 2016-12-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2016 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2016-q4). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.