Security Clearance Law and Procedure, 5th Edition

Security Clearance Law and Procedure 5th EditionThe newly released fifth edition of Security Clearance Law and Procedure, written by KCNF partners Elaine L. Fitch and Mary E. Kuntz, with contributions from Elisabeth M. Baker-Pham and Aaron Herreras Szot, is a comprehensive and authoritative analysis of security clearance law.

 

The book covers relevant history; clearance procedures; the Adjudicative Guidelines; and extensive, updated case analysis.

Major topics include:

  • Security Clearances: One Standard/Many Processes — national standard, federal government process, resources for representing clients
  • Gathering Personal Information — application, background investigation and interview, polygraph, investigation completion
  • Suitability, PIV Access and Other Processes — federal employment suitability, debarment pursuant to a negative determination, contractors, PIV card, Department of Energy access
  • Duties of Clearance Holders — periodic reinvestigations, evaluations, self-reporting, whistleblowing, pre-publication clearance
  • Initial Concerns About a Clearance — answering the statement of reasons, request for information: interrogatory, preliminary adverse decision notice, responding to the SOR
  • DOD Personal Appearances for Federal Employees — appeal of letter of denial/revocation, PSAB decision, procedure, reconsideration/reinstatement, back pay
  • DOD Hearing Procedures for Contractors — referral to DOHA, department counsel role, assignment to AJ, procedures, processing time, success rates, research

Security Clearance Law and Procedure also has been extensively updated to address recent changes in the investigation and adjudication processes and continuously evolving areas, including:

  • The 2019 realignment of the National Background Investigation Bureau (NBIB) into the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), which consolidated the security clearance process under the DoD.
  • DoD’s 2021 memo streamlining security clearance practices so everyone — DoD civilians, military members, contractors (including those appealing a denial of access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI)) — will now have the same procedural protections: a hearing before an Administrative Judge at the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA), who will have the authority to issue a decision (not just an advisory opinion), with the option to appeal an adverse decision. These changes are anticipated to take effect no later than September 30, 2022.
  • MSPB, EEOC and Department of Energy decisions pertaining to security clearances.
  • The first DOHA decisions addressing CBD and discussion of the uptick in medical marijuana decisions.
  • The 2018 Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) announcement of the Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative to overhaul and improve the security clearance process and update the policy framework.
  • SEAD-2 governing the use of polygraphs in clearance decisions was revised in September 2020.

Purchase a copy here, available as a softcover book and/or a PDF file with many useful features on a CD-ROM, on a USB flash drive, or via download.

Security Clearance Law and Procedure
Released 1/18/2022
By: Fitch & Kuntz
Price: $250.00
Edition: 5th/2021
Sku: 21SCLP
ISBN: 978-1-941825-96-9; 1-941825-96-6