When you receive a job offer contingent upon a security clearance or join the military, you will be asked to complete an SF-86 if you don’t already have an active clearance sponsored by the same agency. If you are required to make any disclosures of derogatory information, it is advisable to consult an attorney regarding the best way to mitigate any concerns the adjudicators might have with you obtaining or keeping your clearance. When the adjudicators consider any derogatory information, they will determine whether it is in the best interest of national security for you to have a clearance. The level of scrutiny employed depends upon the agency and level of clearance for which you are trying to get a favorable eligibility determination. The more effectively you can mitigate potential concerns when making disclosures on the SF-86 or to your security officer as part of required self-reporting, the less likely you are to receive a Supplemental Information Request (SIR) or a Statement of Reasons (SOR). If the information being disclosed is likely to trigger an SIR or SOR because of the nature of the information being disclosed, an attorney can assist in framing the disclosure(s) to increase the likelihood of success when later responding to an SIR or SOR. The earlier in the process you engage an attorney with the disclosure of derogatory information, the better result you are likely to have.
Justyn Ann Baxley is a Partner with JAG Defense. Her practice primarily focuses on security clearance law and administrative law. As a security clearance lawyer, Ms. Baxley has represented hundreds of individuals in security clearance adjudications across virtually every federal agency, to include the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy, the National Security Agency, NASA, and others.
