INCLUDED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE A DESCRIPTION OF THE TRANSACTIONAL DATA BASE AND AN ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCING PROCESS AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE MANY POSSIBLE USES TO WHICH THESE DATA MAY BE PUT. THE ANALYSIS ENCOMPASSES DISPOSITIONS OCCURRING AT BOTH THE LOWER (MUNICIPAL) AND SUPERIOR COURT LEVELS. THE AUTHOR MAINTAINS THAT THE UTILITY OF EXAMINING SENTENCE PRACTICES AT DIFFERENT COURT LEVELS AND EMPLOYING ALTERNATIVE INDICATORS OF SEVERITY IS GIVEN SUPPORT WHILE THE ADVANTAGES TO BE GAINED BY COMPILING CRIMINAL JUSTICE DATA ON A TRANSACTIONAL FORMAT IS EMPIRICALLY DEMONSTRATED. THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY INDICATED THAT THE ISSUE OF DIFFERENTIAL SENTENCING PRACTICES IS A MUCH MORE COMPLEX PHENOMENON THAN THE FINDINGS OF PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN. FOR EXAMPLE, THE FOLLOWING RESULTS WERE FOUND: RURAL COURTS TENDED TO SENTENCE BLACKS MORE SEVERELY THAN WHITES AT BOTH COURT LEVELS, WHILE NEGLIGIBLE SENTENCING DIFFERENTIALS WERE FOUND IN URBAN AREAS; YOUNGER OFFENDERS FARED BETTER THAN OLDER OFFENDERS AT THE SUPERIOR COURT LEVEL; AND FOR LOWER COURTS, FEMALES AND MALES RECEIVED EQUAL SENTENCE LENGTHS, WHILE IN SUPERIOR COURTS, FEMALES FREQUENTLY WERE SENTENCED TO LESS TIME THAN THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)