Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2017
Decided cases
614
199 granted · 415 denied
Grant rate
32%
199 of 614 decided · Q3 2017: 40%
Statement of Reasons to decision
402 days
median across 593 cases stating both dates
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 614 industrial security clearance cases in Q4 2017, granting 32% of them. That is 8 points lower than Q3 2017 (40% of 495). A year earlier, Q4 2016 recorded 44% of 353. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 442 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 402 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 20 days shorter than the prior quarter.
Month by month
Outcomes by concern
| Concern | Cases | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F · Financial Considerations | 442 | 122 | 320 | |
| E · Personal Conduct | 145 | 28 | 117 | |
| B · Foreign Influence | 73 | 50 | 23 | |
| H · Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse | 69 | 16 | 53 | |
| G · Alcohol Consumption | 42 | 7 | 35 | |
| J · Criminal Conduct | 35 | 7 | 28 | |
| C · Foreign Preference | 18 | 12 | 6 | |
| M · Use of Information Technology | 6 | 3 | 3 | |
| K · Handling Protected Information | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| D · Sexual Behavior | 4 | 0 | 4 |
- Cases
- 442
- Granted
- 122
- Denied
- 320
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 145
- Granted
- 28
- Denied
- 117
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 73
- Granted
- 50
- Denied
- 23
- Grant rate
H · Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse
- Cases
- 69
- Granted
- 16
- Denied
- 53
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 42
- Granted
- 7
- Denied
- 35
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 35
- Granted
- 7
- Denied
- 28
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 18
- Granted
- 12
- Denied
- 6
- Grant rate
M · Use of Information Technology
- Cases
- 6
- Granted
- 3
- Denied
- 3
- Grant rate
K · Handling Protected Information
- Cases
- 5
- Granted
- 5
- Denied
- 0
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 4
- Granted
- 0
- Denied
- 4
- Grant rate
Time from Statement of Reasons to decision
- Median: 402 days, measured on 593 cases stating both dates.
- Prior quarter: 422 days, measured on 476 cases.
Full breakdowns are on measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
| Path | Cases | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|
| Decided after a live hearing | 204 | |
| Decided on the written record | 406 |
Decided after a live hearing
- Cases
- 204
- Grant rate
Decided on the written record
- Cases
- 406
- Grant rate
Representation
| Representation | Cases | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|
| Represented by a lawyer | 67 | |
| Self-represented | 544 |
Represented by a lawyer
- Cases
- 67
- Grant rate
Self-represented
- Cases
- 544
- 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 2017 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2017-q4)
How these numbers are measured
The population is decided hearing-level industrial security clearance decisions dated 2017-10-01 through 2017-12-31. 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.
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