Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2019
← Q2 2019 · full-year 2019 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 248 industrial security-clearance cases in Q3 2019, granting 41% of them. That is 5 points higher than Q2 2019 (36% of 227). A year earlier, Q3 2018 recorded 35% of 388. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 152 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 239 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 31 days shorter than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- July85 decided
- August85 decided
- September78 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)32%48 granted104 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)27%16 granted43 denied
- Foreign Influence (B)67%39 granted19 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)7%2 granted27 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J) †44%8 granted10 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †38%6 granted10 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †60%3 granted2 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †0%0 granted3 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †67%2 granted1 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †100%2 granted0 denied
- Foreign Preference (C) †100%2 granted0 denied
- Allegiance to the United States (A) †0%0 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 48 | 104 | 32% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 16 | 43 | 27% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 39 | 19 | 67% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 2 | 27 | 7% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 8 | 10 | 44% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 6 | 10 | 38% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 3 | 2 | 60% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 0 | 3 | 0% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 2 | 1 | 67% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 2 | 0 | 100% † |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 2 | 0 | 100% † |
| Allegiance to the United States (A) | 0 | 1 | 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 Q3 2019 took a median of 239 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 225 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 270 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing48% granted · 174 cases
- On the written record21% granted · 66 cases
Representation
- With an attorney50% granted · 48 cases
- Self-represented39% granted · 198 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 2019-07-01 through 2019-09-30; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2019 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2019-q3). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.