Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2023
← Q2 2023 · full-year 2023 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 227 industrial security-clearance cases in Q3 2023, granting 22% of them. That is 5 points lower than Q2 2023 (27% of 211). A year earlier, Q3 2022 recorded 21% of 286. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 148 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 334 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 51 days shorter than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- July68 decided
- August80 decided
- September79 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)23%34 granted114 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)12%7 granted51 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)15%8 granted44 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)14%4 granted24 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G)15%3 granted17 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †38%5 granted8 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †27%3 granted8 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †22%2 granted7 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Outside Activities (L) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Allegiance to the United States (A) †0%0 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 34 | 114 | 23% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 7 | 51 | 12% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 8 | 44 | 15% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 4 | 24 | 14% |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 3 | 17 | 15% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 5 | 8 | 38% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 3 | 8 | 27% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 2 | 7 | 22% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
| Outside Activities (L) | 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 2023 took a median of 334 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 226 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 385 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing26% granted · 147 cases
- On the written record16% granted · 73 cases
Representation
- With an attorney37% granted · 43 cases
- Self-represented18% granted · 184 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 2023-07-01 through 2023-09-30; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2023 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2023-q3). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.