During the period 1979-1984, plea bargaining in felony cases in the participating jurisdictions in the present research rose to 87 percent. All jurisdictions had increases in felony probation populations for the period December 31, 1983, to December 31, 1984. For felony parolee populations, however, both Kentucky and Virginia parolee populations declined for the same time period an average of 3 percent, while Tennessee's parolee population increased by 83 percent. This was due to a court-ordered reduction in the State prison population. Most prosecutors believed that felony probation would be used increasingly unless current prison living conditions were drastically improved. (Author abstract)