PAROLE IS PART OF THE REFORMATORY TREND IN 19TH-CENTURY CRIMINOLOGY. AS A PRACTICE, PAROLE ORIGINATED ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY IN SPAIN, GERMANY, AND ENGLAND. THE CONDITIONS OF INDENTURE GOVERNING ENGLISH CRIMINALS TRANSPORTED TO THE AMERICAN COLONIES BEAR SOME SIMILARITY TO THE MODERN PAROLE AGREEMENT. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PAROLE PRACTICES IS REFLECTED IN THE EXPERIENCES OF AUSTRALIA, ENGLAND, AND IRELAND WITH TICKET-OF-LEAVE SYSTEMS. IN THE UNITED STATES, THREE CONCEPTS -- REDUCTION IN LENGTH OF INCARCERATION AS A REWARD FOR GOOD CONDUCT, SUPERVISION OF THE PAROLEE, AND IMPOSITION OF INDETERMINATE SENTENCES -- UNDERLIE DEVELOPMENT OF PAROLE. THE FIRST LEGAL RECOGNITION OF SHORTENING THE TERM OF IMPRISONMENT AS A REWARD FOR GOOD CONDUCT WAS THE PASSAGE OF NEW YORK'S GOOD TIME LAW IN 1817. THE FIRST PUBLIC EMPLOYEES PAID TO ASSIST RELEASED PRISONERS ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN APPOINTED IN MASSACHUSETTS IN 1845. THE FIRST SYSTEM OF PAROLE WAS ESTABLISHED AT THE ELMIRA REFORMATORY IN NEW YORK. BY 1901, 20 STATES HAD PAROLE STATUTES, BUT ONLY 11 HAD INDETERMINATE SENTENCE LAWS. AS OF 1976, ALL STATES AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAVE PAROLE LAWS, BUT SEVERAL STATES DO NOT HAVE INDETERMINATE SENTENCE LAWS. (LKM)