Loss of Jurisdiction

I had TS/SCI CI Poly and in early 2017 I was in a party and someone lit up a marijuana joint and passed it around. Not thinking at the moment I took few drags and passed on. I was drunk and had forgotten all about it.

Few months later my circumstances changed and I started looking for jobs outside. During one of the job screening interview, the FSO asked me bunch of questions, among them was about drugs. At that moment I suddenly remembered the party and told the FSO about it. The FSO basically ended the interview and said that it is something I should have reported since I already have clearance. I went ahead and reported the incident to my company’s FSO.

For few months I had red flag in JPAS and recently it was moved to “Loss of Jurisdiction”. I thought it was better than having red flag since I had read some stories about red flags dragging on for some people.

Since then I have applied to few positions where companies require clearance or are willing to apply for the candidate. However nothing has been working out. Couple of companies took my SS and looked up in JPAS and saw the Loss of Jurisdiction (I had told them the whole story to begin with) and then came back with not willing to move forward.

My question is, is Loss of Jurisdiction that bad? My understanding was that I am eligible to be applied again. It is going to be almost one year since the incident happened, and I self-reported myself when I realized it. Is there something I’m missing? Is it really that difficult to get clearance again given these circumstances? Any advice or feedback will be much appreciated. Thank you!

I can’t answer about the “Loss of Jurisdiction” . . . but, your story does give me pause . . .

What you are telling us is that you had a TS/SCI clearance, you were at a party where someone was getting high, you didn’t leave, they passed the joint to you, you didn’t just pass it on to the next person, you took a few drags, you were drunk at the time, you forgot about it.

Now, your surprised that you are having problems with your clearance?

You could have left the party or asked that your friends not smoke while you’re around. You could have separated yourself so that it wouldn’t have been passed to you. You could have passed it on without hitting it. Your reasoning was that you were drunk. You think this is about smoking a little grass? This is about judgement. I expect that is a bigger issue than the joint.

I sure do agree with you. I am not making an excuse or marginalizing it anyway. But the punishment to my violation is done with. I have lost my clearance. My question is, moving forward, is this still something that employer can view as a big problem in getting clearance again? I do want to stay in defense industry but if this is going to be an issue forever in the future for me then it seems like I may have to go back to corporate america. Thanks.

Time heals all . . . I’m pretty certain that you can regain your clearance, or at least a secret. I don’t know how you can figure out how long to wait but the first thing that I would do is get my hands on the adjudicative guidelines and go through them. See where you can be dinged and see what the mitigating factors that are allowed for may be. Start writing documentation that shows how the mitigating factors apply to your case.

When you interview for a job, if this comes up, you need to include the mitigation. That may get you over the first hurdle. You don’t need to volunteer this to employers but you should disclose it if asked.

Yours will not be the quick and easy path to a clearance. It’s going to take time and effort on your part. Your investigator will question you about it and they will likely try to deny you a clearance. You might need a lawyer but you might be able to fight it yourself.

It’s going to be work . . .

2 Likes