Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2020
← Q2 2020 · full-year 2020 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 70 industrial security-clearance cases in Q3 2020, granting 33% of them. That is 2 points lower than Q2 2020 (35% of 109). A year earlier, Q3 2019 recorded 41% of 248. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 48 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 265 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 13 days shorter than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- July26 decided
- August30 decided
- September14 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)29%14 granted34 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)25%5 granted15 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †45%5 granted6 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) †20%1 granted4 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †50%2 granted2 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †50%1 granted1 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J) †0%0 granted2 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †100%1 granted0 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 14 | 34 | 29% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 5 | 15 | 25% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 5 | 6 | 45% † |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 1 | 4 | 20% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 2 | 2 | 50% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 1 | 1 | 50% † |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 0 | 2 | 0% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 1 | 0 | 100% † |
† 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 2020 took a median of 265 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 60 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 278 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing54% granted · 35 cases
- On the written record12% granted · 33 cases
Representation
- With an attorney71% granted · 7 cases
- Self-represented29% granted · 62 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 2020-07-01 through 2020-09-30; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2020 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2020-q3). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.