Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2021
← Q2 2021 · full-year 2021 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 176 industrial security-clearance cases in Q3 2021, granting 22% of them. That is 7 points lower than Q2 2021 (29% of 130). A year earlier, Q3 2020 recorded 33% of 70. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 127 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 336 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 8 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- July58 decided
- August62 decided
- September56 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)20%25 granted102 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)14%6 granted36 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)21%6 granted23 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †50%8 granted8 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J) †22%2 granted7 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †25%2 granted6 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †40%2 granted3 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †0%0 granted4 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted3 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Allegiance to the United States (A) †0%0 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 25 | 102 | 20% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 6 | 36 | 14% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 6 | 23 | 21% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 8 | 8 | 50% † |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 2 | 7 | 22% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 2 | 6 | 25% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 2 | 3 | 40% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 0 | 4 | 0% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 0 | 3 | 0% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
| Allegiance to the United States (A) | 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 Q3 2021 took a median of 336 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 173 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 328 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing34% granted · 97 cases
- On the written record9% granted · 69 cases
Representation
- With an attorney39% granted · 31 cases
- Self-represented19% granted · 145 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 2021-07-01 through 2021-09-30; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2021 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2021-q3). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.