Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2020
← Q4 2019 · full-year 2020 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 211 industrial security-clearance cases in Q1 2020, granting 32% of them. That is 7 points higher than Q4 2019 (25% of 183). A year earlier, Q1 2019 recorded 33% of 347. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 146 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 241 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 17 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- January80 decided
- February68 decided
- March63 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)29%42 granted104 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)20%11 granted44 denied
- Foreign Influence (B)48%14 granted15 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)24%7 granted22 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J) †19%3 granted13 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †14%2 granted12 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †43%3 granted4 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †40%2 granted3 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †25%1 granted3 denied
- Foreign Preference (C) †50%2 granted2 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †0%0 granted3 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 42 | 104 | 29% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 11 | 44 | 20% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 14 | 15 | 48% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 7 | 22 | 24% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 3 | 13 | 19% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 2 | 12 | 14% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 3 | 4 | 43% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 2 | 3 | 40% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 1 | 3 | 25% † |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 2 | 2 | 50% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 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 2020 took a median of 241 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 205 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 224 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing39% granted · 136 cases
- On the written record18% granted · 72 cases
Representation
- With an attorney44% granted · 41 cases
- Self-represented29% granted · 168 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 2020-01-01 through 2020-03-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2020 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2020-q1). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.