Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2023
← Q3 2023 · full-year 2023 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 209 industrial security-clearance cases in Q4 2023, granting 28% of them. That is 6 points higher than Q3 2023 (22% of 227). A year earlier, Q4 2022 recorded 23% of 260. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 113 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 320 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 14 days shorter than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- October57 decided
- November87 decided
- December65 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)28%32 granted81 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)18%14 granted66 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)28%17 granted44 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)25%8 granted24 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †29%5 granted12 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †13%2 granted14 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †20%2 granted8 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †25%1 granted3 denied
- Foreign Preference (C) †33%1 granted2 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †50%1 granted1 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Allegiance to the United States (A) †100%1 granted0 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 32 | 81 | 28% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 14 | 66 | 18% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 17 | 44 | 28% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 8 | 24 | 25% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 5 | 12 | 29% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 2 | 14 | 13% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 2 | 8 | 20% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 1 | 3 | 25% † |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 1 | 2 | 33% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 1 | 1 | 50% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
| Allegiance to the United States (A) | 1 | 0 | 100% † |
† 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 2023 took a median of 320 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 202 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 334 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing35% granted · 148 cases
- On the written record10% granted · 58 cases
Representation
- With an attorney43% granted · 37 cases
- Self-represented24% granted · 170 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 2023-10-01 through 2023-12-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2023 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2023-q4). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.