Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2018
← Q4 2017 · full-year 2018 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 541 industrial security-clearance cases in Q1 2018, granting 36% of them. That is 4 points higher than Q4 2017 (32% of 614). A year earlier, Q1 2017 recorded 39% of 604. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 389 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 348 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 54 days shorter than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- January167 decided
- February168 decided
- March206 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)33%127 granted262 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)27%38 granted102 denied
- Foreign Influence (B)68%51 granted24 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)31%15 granted34 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)29%12 granted30 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G)26%8 granted23 denied
- Foreign Preference (C)71%17 granted7 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †14%1 granted6 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †17%1 granted5 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted3 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 127 | 262 | 33% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 38 | 102 | 27% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 51 | 24 | 68% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 15 | 34 | 31% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 12 | 30 | 29% |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 8 | 23 | 26% |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 17 | 7 | 71% |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 1 | 6 | 14% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 1 | 5 | 17% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 0 | 3 | 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 Q1 2018 took a median of 348 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 526 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 402 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing49% granted · 303 cases
- On the written record20% granted · 237 cases
Representation
- With an attorney69% granted · 86 cases
- Self-represented30% granted · 449 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 2018-01-01 through 2018-03-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2018 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2018-q1). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.