Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2021
← Q4 2020 · full-year 2021 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 116 industrial security-clearance cases in Q1 2021, granting 28% of them. That grant rate matches Q4 2020 (28% of 57). A year earlier, Q1 2020 recorded 32% of 211. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 74 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 340 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 13 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- January22 decided
- February28 decided
- March66 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)26%19 granted55 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)14%4 granted25 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)5%1 granted20 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †67%10 granted5 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J) †8%1 granted12 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †0%0 granted6 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †0%0 granted4 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †33%1 granted2 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †50%1 granted1 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †50%1 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 19 | 55 | 26% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 4 | 25 | 14% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 1 | 20 | 5% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 10 | 5 | 67% † |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 1 | 12 | 8% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 0 | 6 | 0% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 0 | 4 | 0% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 1 | 2 | 33% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 1 | 1 | 50% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 1 | 1 | 50% † |
† 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 2021 took a median of 340 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 116 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 327 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing34% granted · 67 cases
- On the written record16% granted · 45 cases
Representation
- With an attorney33% granted · 33 cases
- Self-represented25% granted · 83 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 2021-01-01 through 2021-03-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2021 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2021-q1). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.