Suitability and Public trust with SSA having recent criminal issues

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Hello all. I was recently offered a position as a contractor with the SSA. I filled out my form 306 and I am waiting (for about 5 days ) for suitability and to move forward with the eQuip. I have 4 Misdemeanor convictions. Below is what I put on my for 306. What are my chances to obtain the suitability and the pubic trust? One caveat: I currently have Suitability with DOI.

1/19/2018. Violation of protective order. This was a misdemeanor charge and conviction
stemming from emailing my ex-wife about our second home being broken into. It stemmed
from a very contentious divorce. Please allow me to explain in an interview.

  1. 4/20/2018. Violation of protective order. This was a misdemeanor charge and conviction
    stemming from saying “good morning” to my ex-wife at the Loudoun County Courthouse. It
    stemmed from a very contentious divorce. Please allow me to explain in an interview.

  2. 4/6/23. Carrying a pistol without a license in the District of Columba, possession of an extended
    Magazine, Possession of unregistered ammunition, unlawful possession of a firearm, and
    Suspicion of DUI. After review from the court the DUI was given a dismissed/deferred sentence
    and will be dismissed 8/12/24. The possession of an extended magazine was dismissed, and the
    unlawful possession of a firearm was dismissed. The Charges of carrying a pistol without a
    license and the possession of unregistered ammunition were dropped to ATTEMPTED carrying a
    pistol w/o a license and ATTEMPTED possession of unregistered ammunition. This stemmed
    from a traffic stop for an illegal left turn. I am a resident of the state of Virginia and legally
    possessed a concealed carry weapons permit. I had made a wrong turn and ended up 2 miles
    inside the District of Columbia and was trying to leave ASAP. If possible, please allow me to
    explain in an interview. On 2/12/24 I pled guilty to the 2 misdemeanor charges listed above.

Thanks

2

If you’re filling out SF85 (public trust), it will ask you to list basically all run-ins with the law in the last 7 years, so yeah, you probably need to list all that. And even if any of your items doesn’t qualify to be listed, you may still be asked about it.

But before you proceed, you should ask yourself honestly if this is a good fit for you right now. Once you get any clearance or public trust, you basically need to be squeaky clean. It’s way worse if you have legal issues WHILE being cleared than when not cleared.

3

I would, of course, list all of these issues. Honesty is key. And as to your point of asking myself if this is the right fit for me… yes it most certainly is. I have had a public trust since 2013. These things happened while cleared and I correctly reported them to my security office. I am currently undertaking a new job, and wanted to know the chances I will be found suitable to do so. What are your thoughts on that?

4

Hard to say as I don’t know much about public trust. But good news is, being it’s a PT and not a clearance, they may not scrutinize your record as much. Considering they didn’t suspend or revoke it when you reported these, IMO you’re probably ok. But, again, I don’t know very much about PT. That’s just based on what I’ve seen. If you were going for a clearance, then you would probably run into problems.