Ask the Lawyer: You can appeal if security clearance is revoked - Military Law, Military Law Advice, Ask a Lawyer - Military Times

Ask the Lawyer: You can appeal if security clearance is revoked

Lawyer Mathew B. Tully answers your questions.

Q. What should I do if my security clearance is revoked?

A: security clearance is required for anyone who has access to classified materials in the course of doing duty for the military, government or as a government contractor. A clearance is a sign of trust that you can and will safeguard national security information.

A clearance can be revoked for a number of reasons: mental instability, substance abuse, security violations, financial woes, misuse of information technology systems — anything that brings allegiance to the nation into question or makes the holder unfit to be privy to sensitive materials.

Anyone whose clearance is revoked or denied is given a statement of the reasons why along with the procedure for filing an appeal. Appealing the decision provides an opportunity to clarify or correct information gathered during an investigation that may be wrong or misleading.

For example, financial records may indicate a clearance holder ran up credit card debts for two years, then declared bankruptcy before getting his finances in order. What may not have shown up is that the financial setback was due to a sudden, expensive illness not covered by insurance. This could be explained on appeal.

A security clearance is valid for a specific time, depending on the clearance level. A reinvestigation is required every 15 years for confidential clearance, every 10 for secret clearance and every five for top secret clearance, though reinvestigations can be done at random before they are due.

Clearances can be revoked or denied during this process if the holder provides false information. It is important to be completely honest; if misleading information is given by accident, the holder will have to prove on appeal that this occurred due to error rather than an attempt to deceive.

Security clearances are also a valuable commodity upon returning to the civilian world. Contractors who do work for the Defense Department must bear the cost of security clearances for their employees and also must wait months for the clearance to be granted. Hiring someone who already holds a clearance saves the company time and money.

When service members leave the military, their clearances are deactivated. They can be reactivated within 24 months as long as the most recent background check fell within the allotted time period for the clearance level.

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Mathew B. Tully is an Iraq war veteran and founding partner of the law firm Tully Rinckey PLLC. E-mail questions to askthelawyer@militarytimes.com. The information in this column is not intended as legal advice.