Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2019
← Q3 2019 · full-year 2019 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 183 industrial security-clearance cases in Q4 2019, granting 25% of them. That is 16 points lower than Q3 2019 (41% of 248). A year earlier, Q4 2018 recorded 31% of 309. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 112 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 224 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 15 days shorter than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- October73 decided
- November69 decided
- December41 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)22%25 granted87 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)22%13 granted46 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)11%3 granted24 denied
- Foreign Influence (B)36%8 granted14 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J) †31%4 granted9 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †8%1 granted11 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †50%3 granted3 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted5 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †100%2 granted0 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †0%0 granted2 denied
- Foreign Preference (C) †0%0 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 25 | 87 | 22% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 13 | 46 | 22% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 3 | 24 | 11% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 8 | 14 | 36% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 4 | 9 | 31% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 1 | 11 | 8% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 3 | 3 | 50% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 0 | 5 | 0% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 2 | 0 | 100% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 0 | 2 | 0% † |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 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 Q4 2019 took a median of 224 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 182 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 239 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing33% granted · 118 cases
- On the written record11% granted · 61 cases
Representation
- With an attorney46% granted · 35 cases
- Self-represented20% granted · 147 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 2019-10-01 through 2019-12-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2019 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2019-q4). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.