Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2017
← Q4 2016 · full-year 2017 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 604 industrial security-clearance cases in Q1 2017, granting 39% of them. That is 5 points lower than Q4 2016 (44% of 353). A year earlier, Q1 2016 recorded 39% of 517. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 436 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 406 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 46 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- January151 decided
- February191 decided
- March262 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)35%152 granted284 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)26%27 granted77 denied
- Foreign Influence (B)67%48 granted24 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)39%21 granted33 denied
- Foreign Preference (C)54%19 granted16 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)37%13 granted22 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G)32%8 granted17 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †57%4 granted3 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †67%2 granted1 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †33%1 granted2 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 152 | 284 | 35% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 27 | 77 | 26% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 48 | 24 | 67% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 21 | 33 | 39% |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 19 | 16 | 54% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 13 | 22 | 37% |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 8 | 17 | 32% |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 4 | 3 | 57% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 2 | 1 | 67% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 1 | 2 | 33% † |
† 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 Q1 2017 took a median of 406 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 569 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 360 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing46% granted · 401 cases
- On the written record24% granted · 202 cases
Representation
- With an attorney59% granted · 108 cases
- Self-represented34% granted · 494 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 2017-01-01 through 2017-03-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2017 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2017-q1). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.