Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2017
← Q3 2017 · full-year 2017 · next quarter →
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
- October314 decided
- November183 decided
- December117 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)28%122 granted320 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)19%28 granted117 denied
- Foreign Influence (B)68%50 granted23 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)23%16 granted53 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G)17%7 granted35 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)20%7 granted28 denied
- Foreign Preference (C) †67%12 granted6 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †50%3 granted3 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †100%5 granted0 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †0%0 granted4 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 122 | 320 | 28% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 28 | 117 | 19% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 50 | 23 | 68% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 16 | 53 | 23% |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 7 | 35 | 17% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 7 | 28 | 20% |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 12 | 6 | 67% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 3 | 3 | 50% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 5 | 0 | 100% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 0 | 4 | 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 2017 took a median of 402 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 593 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 422 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing49% granted · 204 cases
- On the written record24% granted · 406 cases
Representation
- With an attorney63% granted · 67 cases
- Self-represented28% granted · 544 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 2017-10-01 through 2017-12-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2017 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2017-q4). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.