Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2023
Decided cases
209
58 granted · 151 denied
Grant rate
28%
58 of 209 decided · Q3 2023: 22%
Statement of Reasons to decision
320 days
median across 202 cases stating both dates
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
Outcomes by concern
| Concern | Cases | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F · Financial Considerations | 113 | 32 | 81 | |
| E · Personal Conduct | 80 | 14 | 66 | |
| H · Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse | 61 | 17 | 44 | |
| J · Criminal Conduct | 32 | 8 | 24 | |
| B · Foreign Influence | 17 | 5 | 12 | |
| G · Alcohol Consumption | 16 | 2 | 14 | |
| D · Sexual Behavior | 10 | 2 | 8 | |
| M · Use of Information Technology | 4 | 1 | 3 | |
| C · Foreign Preference | 3 | 1 | 2 | |
| I · Psychological Conditions | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| K · Handling Protected Information | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| A · Allegiance to the United States | 1 | 1 | 0 |
- Cases
- 113
- Granted
- 32
- Denied
- 81
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 80
- Granted
- 14
- Denied
- 66
- Grant rate
H · Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse
- Cases
- 61
- Granted
- 17
- Denied
- 44
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 32
- Granted
- 8
- Denied
- 24
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 17
- Granted
- 5
- Denied
- 12
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 16
- Granted
- 2
- Denied
- 14
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 10
- Granted
- 2
- Denied
- 8
- Grant rate
M · Use of Information Technology
- Cases
- 4
- Granted
- 1
- Denied
- 3
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 3
- Granted
- 1
- Denied
- 2
- Grant rate
- Cases
- 2
- Granted
- 1
- Denied
- 1
- Grant rate
K · Handling Protected Information
- Cases
- 1
- Granted
- 0
- Denied
- 1
- Grant rate
A · Allegiance to the United States
- Cases
- 1
- Granted
- 1
- Denied
- 0
- Grant rate
Time from Statement of Reasons to decision
- Median: 320 days, measured on 202 cases stating both dates.
- Prior quarter: 334 days, measured on 226 cases.
Full breakdowns are on measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
| Path | Cases | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|
| Decided after a live hearing | 148 | |
| Decided on the written record | 58 |
Decided after a live hearing
- Cases
- 148
- Grant rate
Decided on the written record
- Cases
- 58
- Grant rate
Representation
| Representation | Cases | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|
| Represented by a lawyer | 37 | |
| Self-represented | 170 |
Represented by a lawyer
- Cases
- 37
- Grant rate
Self-represented
- Cases
- 170
- Grant rate
An association, not proof of cause: the groups being compared differ in many ways.
Cite this report
CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2023 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2023-q4)
How these numbers are measured
The population is decided hearing-level industrial security clearance decisions dated 2023-10-01 through 2023-12-31. Appeal Board decisions are counted separately and never mixed into the hearing figures. † marks a group built on fewer than 20 decided cases, too few to generalize, and a case raising several concerns counts under each of them. Figures are computed live from the record as it stands today, so decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their own quarter automatically. Definitions and checks are on the methodology page.
Reading the statistics
- Granted = access granted or continued; Denied = denied or revoked.
- Grant rate = granted ÷ (granted + denied).
- † marks figures based on fewer than 20 cases, too few to be reliable.
- Hovering any rate shows its statistical range (a 95% confidence interval).
- Figures are descriptive counts over decided, public DOHA ISCR decisions, never predictions or assessments of any pending case.
Where to go from here
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