Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2021
← Q3 2021 · full-year 2021 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 167 industrial security-clearance cases in Q4 2021, granting 22% of them. That grant rate matches Q3 2021 (22% of 176). A year earlier, Q4 2020 recorded 28% of 57. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 107 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 353 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 17 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- October64 decided
- November58 decided
- December45 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)20%21 granted86 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)19%8 granted35 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)19%7 granted30 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J) †25%3 granted9 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †50%5 granted5 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †17%1 granted5 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †0%0 granted5 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †25%1 granted3 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted3 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †50%1 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 21 | 86 | 20% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 8 | 35 | 19% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 7 | 30 | 19% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 3 | 9 | 25% † |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 5 | 5 | 50% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 1 | 5 | 17% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 0 | 5 | 0% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 1 | 3 | 25% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 0 | 3 | 0% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 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 Q4 2021 took a median of 353 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 164 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 336 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing30% granted · 91 cases
- On the written record10% granted · 71 cases
Representation
- With an attorney57% granted · 28 cases
- Self-represented14% granted · 138 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 2021-10-01 through 2021-12-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2021 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2021-q4). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.