Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2026
← Q4 2025 · full-year 2026 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 220 industrial security-clearance cases in Q1 2026, granting 24% of them. That is 3 points higher than Q4 2025 (21% of 95). A year earlier, Q1 2025 recorded 23% of 192. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 108 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 328 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 29 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- January59 decided
- February80 decided
- March81 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)17%18 granted90 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)33%28 granted57 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)13%8 granted56 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)23%8 granted27 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †29%4 granted10 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †43%6 granted8 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †0%0 granted9 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †0%0 granted9 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †0%0 granted3 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted3 denied
- Foreign Preference (C) †0%0 granted2 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 18 | 90 | 17% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 28 | 57 | 33% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 8 | 56 | 13% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 8 | 27 | 23% |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 4 | 10 | 29% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 6 | 8 | 43% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 0 | 9 | 0% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 0 | 9 | 0% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 0 | 3 | 0% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 0 | 3 | 0% † |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 0 | 2 | 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 2026 took a median of 328 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 218 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 299 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing29% granted · 142 cases
- On the written record13% granted · 76 cases
Representation
- With an attorney34% granted · 44 cases
- Self-represented22% granted · 176 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 2026-01-01 through 2026-03-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q1 2026 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2026-q1). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.