Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2020
← Q3 2020 · full-year 2020 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 57 industrial security-clearance cases in Q4 2020, granting 28% of them. That is 5 points lower than Q3 2020 (33% of 70). A year earlier, Q4 2019 recorded 25% of 183. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 40 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 327 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 62 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- October20 decided
- November16 decided
- December21 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)33%13 granted27 denied
- Personal Conduct (E) †13%2 granted13 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) †0%0 granted9 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J) †14%1 granted6 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †33%2 granted4 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †50%1 granted1 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †0%0 granted2 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 13 | 27 | 33% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 2 | 13 | 13% † |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 0 | 9 | 0% † |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 1 | 6 | 14% † |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 2 | 4 | 33% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 1 | 1 | 50% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 0 | 2 | 0% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 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 2020 took a median of 327 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 55 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 265 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing26% granted · 39 cases
- On the written record27% granted · 15 cases
Representation
- With an attorney13% granted · 15 cases
- Self-represented30% granted · 40 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 2020-10-01 through 2020-12-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2020 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2020-q4). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.