Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2024
← Q3 2024 · full-year 2024 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 178 industrial security-clearance cases in Q4 2024, granting 22% of them. That is 8 points lower than Q3 2024 (30% of 208). A year earlier, Q4 2023 recorded 28% of 209. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 81 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 316 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 23 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- October58 decided
- November61 decided
- December59 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)20%16 granted65 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)19%13 granted56 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)13%7 granted45 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)20%5 granted20 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G)30%6 granted14 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †33%5 granted10 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †9%1 granted10 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †33%2 granted4 denied
- Foreign Preference (C) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †100%1 granted0 denied
- Outside Activities (L) †100%1 granted0 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †100%1 granted0 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 16 | 65 | 20% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 13 | 56 | 19% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 7 | 45 | 13% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 5 | 20 | 20% |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 6 | 14 | 30% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 5 | 10 | 33% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 1 | 10 | 9% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 2 | 4 | 33% † |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 1 | 0 | 100% † |
| Outside Activities (L) | 1 | 0 | 100% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 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 2024 took a median of 316 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 176 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 293 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing31% granted · 105 cases
- On the written record9% granted · 68 cases
Representation
- With an attorney26% granted · 27 cases
- Self-represented21% granted · 150 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 2024-10-01 through 2024-12-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2024 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2024-q4). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.