Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2017
← Q2 2017 · full-year 2017 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 495 industrial security-clearance cases in Q3 2017, granting 40% of them. That is 2 points higher than Q2 2017 (38% of 548). A year earlier, Q3 2016 recorded 40% of 371. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 360 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 422 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 12 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- July169 decided
- August201 decided
- September125 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)34%123 granted237 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)22%27 granted94 denied
- Foreign Influence (B)77%55 granted16 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)26%9 granted25 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)24%8 granted25 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G)18%5 granted23 denied
- Foreign Preference (C)80%16 granted4 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †0%0 granted4 denied
- Outside Activities (L) †67%2 granted1 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †33%1 granted2 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †50%1 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 123 | 237 | 34% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 27 | 94 | 22% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 55 | 16 | 77% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 9 | 25 | 26% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 8 | 25 | 24% |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 5 | 23 | 18% |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 16 | 4 | 80% |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 0 | 4 | 0% † |
| Outside Activities (L) | 2 | 1 | 67% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 1 | 2 | 33% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 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 Q3 2017 took a median of 422 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 476 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 410 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing48% granted · 292 cases
- On the written record26% granted · 201 cases
Representation
- With an attorney62% granted · 82 cases
- Self-represented35% granted · 412 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 2017-07-01 through 2017-09-30; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2017 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2017-q3). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.