Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2023
← Q4 2022 · full-year 2023 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 308 industrial security-clearance cases in Q1 2023, granting 29% of them. That is 6 points higher than Q4 2022 (23% of 260). A year earlier, Q1 2022 recorded 28% of 229. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 206 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 379 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 59 days shorter than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- January78 decided
- February87 decided
- March143 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)29%60 granted146 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)24%21 granted67 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)25%15 granted46 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)19%7 granted30 denied
- Foreign Influence (B)33%7 granted14 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G)29%6 granted15 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †58%7 granted5 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †27%3 granted8 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted6 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †0%0 granted5 denied
- Foreign Preference (C) †0%0 granted2 denied
- Outside Activities (L) †0%0 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 60 | 146 | 29% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 21 | 67 | 24% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 15 | 46 | 25% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 7 | 30 | 19% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 7 | 14 | 33% |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 6 | 15 | 29% |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 7 | 5 | 58% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 3 | 8 | 27% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 0 | 6 | 0% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 0 | 5 | 0% † |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 0 | 2 | 0% † |
| Outside Activities (L) | 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 Q1 2023 took a median of 379 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 302 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 438 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing37% granted · 189 cases
- On the written record16% granted · 110 cases
Representation
- With an attorney48% granted · 58 cases
- Self-represented24% granted · 250 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 2023-01-01 through 2023-03-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2023 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2023-q1). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.