The two databases that decide whether your clearance follows you

When a defense contractor wants to confirm that your Top Secret eligibility is real and current, nobody phones your last security officer for a reference. A security specialist opens a government system of record and reads the determination straight off the screen. For most of the cleared workforce that system is the Defense Information System for Security, or DISS. For anyone read into Sensitive Compartmented Information, a second repository controls access: Scattered Castles. The two do not talk to each other automatically, and the gap between them is where a surprising number of job offers stall.

What are Scattered Castles and DISS?

DISS is the Defense Department’s enterprise system for personnel security, suitability, and credentialing across military, civilian, and contractor staff. Scattered Castles is the Intelligence Community’s authoritative repository for verifying SCI access, visit certifications, and documented exceptions. One serves DoD; the other serves the IC.

DISS is run by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. It replaced the Joint Personnel Adjudication System as the DoD system of record on March 31, 2021, and it now serves as the enterprise-wide solution for personnel security, suitability, and credentialing management for DoD military, civilian, and contractor personnel. Under the hood it is really three tools working together. The Case Adjudication Tracking System (CATS) performs the adjudication itself. The Joint Verification System (JVS) is where security officers document clearance access and verify eligibility determinations, so JVS is the screen a recruiter’s security team actually reads. A separate Appeals module supports the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals and the Personnel Security Appeals Board when a determination is contested.

Scattered Castles answers a narrower question. Its authority comes from Intelligence Community Directive 704, effective October 1, 2008, which names the IC Scattered Castles repository “or successor database” as the authoritative source for personnel security access approval verifications regarding SCI and other controlled access programs, visit certifications, and documented exceptions. If you hold a TS/SCI and move to a new IC contract, the gaining organization confirms your access in Scattered Castles, not DISS. ICD 704 also fixes the baseline the database records: SCI eligibility requires that the subject be a U.S. citizen, with no exception written into the standard.

How does clearance reciprocity actually work?

Reciprocity means one agency accepts another’s completed investigation, adjudication, and active eligibility instead of starting over. Federal law requires it. In practice a security office searches the systems of record, confirms your determination is current and broad enough, and grants access, usually within days.

The rule did not start as policy. It started as statute. Under Section 3001(d) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, codified at 50 U.S.C. 3341, “all security clearance background investigations and determinations completed by an authorized investigative agency or authorized adjudication agency shall be accepted by all agencies.” SEAD 7, signed by Director of National Intelligence Daniel R. Coats and effective November 9, 2018, turned that mandate into operating instructions. It defines reciprocity as the acknowledgement and acceptance of an existing background investigation, an existing adjudication, and an active national security eligibility determination granted by another executive branch agency.

The mechanics run through the databases. SEAD 7 directs agencies to review Scattered Castles, the Joint Personnel Adjudication System within the Department of Defense, and the Central Verification System within OPM, “or successor databases,” to find any prior or current investigation or eligibility. Two things are worth reading twice. First, the DoD entry still says JPAS because the 2018 directive predates the switchover; the successor database it points to is today’s DISS. Second, reciprocity is really a three-system check. Scattered Castles covers the IC side, DISS covers DoD, and OPM’s CVS covers much of the federal civilian workforce, including the public trust positions that are not classified clearances at all. Most “does my clearance transfer” questions live in the DISS-and-Scattered-Castles pair, but CVS is the quiet third leg.

SEAD 7 also puts clocks on the process. A reciprocity determination is supposed to be made within five business days of the file reaching the agency’s personnel security program. An agency that holds your investigative record has to furnish it within 10 business days of a request. When the system works, a move between cleared employers is a records check, not a fresh investigation, which matters when a Tier 5 background investigation runs $5,410 for standard service and the government would rather not pay for it twice.

DISS vs. Scattered Castles: how do they compare?

Same purpose, different jurisdictions. DISS is the DoD system of record for clearance eligibility; Scattered Castles is the IC’s authoritative source for SCI access. A security officer may check one, the other, or both, depending on whether the job touches collateral clearances, compartmented access, or a combination.

Why didn’t my clearance transfer?

Usually because your eligibility fell into one of SEAD 7’s named exceptions. The three that catch job-seekers most often: an interim clearance, which never transfers; an investigation older than seven years; or a past denial or revocation. Each is written into the directive itself.

Reciprocity is the default, not a guarantee. SEAD 7 lists the conditions under which a gaining agency may decline to accept your eligibility, and three of them account for most stalled transfers.

The first is the one that surprises people. If your national security eligibility was granted on a temporary (interim), limited, or one-time basis, it is an explicit exception to reciprocity. An interim Secret that let you start work while your investigation finished is not a transferable clearance. It is a bridge, and bridges expire. Both ICD 704 and the NISPOM rule at 32 CFR 117.10 cap temporary eligibility at one year, and the NISPOM rule adds that non-U.S. citizens are not eligible for access on a temporary basis at all. If a recruiter tells you your clearance “didn’t come across,” the first question to ask yourself is whether it was ever a final determination.

The second exception is age. When the most recent background investigation is more than seven years old, the gaining agency can decline reciprocity, and on accepting an older investigation it must immediately begin a reinvestigation. This is one reason the government is moving off calendar-based reviews. Under the Trusted Workforce reforms, DCSA is shifting from periodic reinvestigations, where a Top Secret was reinvestigated at least once every five years, toward continuous vetting: automated records checks that flag issues as they surface instead of on a five-year clock.

The third is history. Anyone found ineligible for classified access or a sensitive position should remain ineligible for national security duty for at least one year from the date of the denial or revocation. Reciprocity accepts a current, active determination; it does not paper over a revoked one, and a break in coverage can turn into a loss of jurisdiction that complicates the record even further.

What does this mean for your job search in 2026?

Treat your clearance as a record, not a possession. Know your access level, your last investigation date, and whether your eligibility is interim or final. When a recruiter asks, hand over the details that let them find you in DISS or Scattered Castles quickly, and the five-day clock can actually start.

The cleared labor market is large enough that these mechanics matter at scale. More than 3.6 million of the roughly 4.2 million people with clearances work in DoD military, civilian, or contractor roles, which is why DISS, not Scattered Castles, is the database most cleared job-seekers pass through. Recruiters verify eligibility constantly, and the ones who move fastest are the ones handed the right details up front. A recruiter needs specific facts to confirm your eligibility: clearance level, investigation type and date, and the granting agency. Vague answers cost you days.

A few practical habits keep a transfer clean. Confirm whether your current eligibility is final or interim before you accept a new offer. Ask your security officer for your last investigation date so you can see whether the seven-year line is close. Know your level cold, because confidential, secret, and top secret are adjudicated and recorded differently. Those three answers are what turn a nervous transfer into a five-day records check.

Where clearance records are headed

DISS itself is a waypoint. DCSA describes it as an integral step toward the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) platform still in development, a single system meant to fold investigation, adjudication, and continuous vetting into one place. As continuous vetting replaces the five-year reinvestigation cycle and NBIS absorbs DISS, the record that decides whether your clearance transfers should get faster to check and harder to let lapse. The reader move that pays off in 2026 is small and unglamorous: know your investigation date, know whether your eligibility is final or interim, and keep both answers ready before a recruiter ever asks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I look up my own record in DISS or Scattered Castles?

No. Both are government systems of record, not consumer portals. Security officers document access and verify eligibility in DISS through its Joint Verification System, and IC staff confirm SCI access in Scattered Castles. To learn your own status, ask your facility security officer or the security office that granted your eligibility.

Does a Top Secret clearance automatically include SCI access?

No. SCI is a separate read-in verified in Scattered Castles, not something a collateral Top Secret grants on its own. Under ICD 704, effective October 1, 2008, SCI eligibility also requires that the subject be a U.S. citizen. A “TS/SCI” listing means both the Top Secret eligibility and the specific SCI access have been recorded.

How long is reciprocity supposed to take?

SEAD 7 sets a target of five business days for a reciprocity determination once your file reaches the agency’s personnel security program. An agency that holds your investigative record must furnish it within 10 business days of a request. Interim clearances and investigations older than seven years can extend the timeline because they fall outside standard reciprocity.

Why don’t interim clearances transfer between employers?

Because SEAD 7 names eligibility granted on a temporary (interim), limited, or one-time basis as an explicit exception to reciprocity. ICD 704 and 32 CFR 117.10 both cap temporary eligibility at one year, and the NISPOM rule bars non-U.S. citizens from temporary access entirely. An interim clearance lets you start work; it is not a final determination that a new employer can accept.

What replaces DISS in the future?

DCSA describes DISS as a step toward the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) platform, still in development, which is intended to consolidate investigation, adjudication, and continuous vetting. Until NBIS is fully implemented, DISS remains the DoD system of record it became on March 31, 2021.