THE REPORT, INTENDED TO HELP INDIVIDUAL STATES INITIATE STATE JUDICIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS BY PROVIDING GUIDELINES AND METHODOLOGIES, FOCUSES ON THE MAJOR COSTS AND BENEFITS THAT ARE FACTORS IN INFORMATION SYSTEM SELECTION, AND IT ILLUSTRATES THE USE OF THESE GUIDELINES BY PRESENTING SEVERAL THOROUGH CASE STUDIES. THE OBJECTIVE OF A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS IS TO IDENTIFY, FROM AMONG A NUMBER OF SYSTEM ALTERNATIVES, THE ONE THAT SEEMS TO OFFER THE BEST COMBINATION OF COST AND PERFORMANCE OVER A PRESCRIBED PERIOD. BEFORE BEGINNING A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS, ADMINISTRATORS SHOULD DEVELOP AN OVERALL PLAN FOR CONDUCTING THE STUDY AND INTERPRETING THE RESULTS. THE CHALLENGE OF A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS IS THE EVALUATION OF BENEFITS AND SUBSEQUENT MATCHING OF THEM TO COSTS IN A MEANINGFUL WAY. THROUGHOUT THE ANALYSIS, EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON SYSTEMATICALLY DEVELOPING COSTS AND BENEFITS IN A STEP-BY-STEP FASHION AND ON COMPLETE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION, AUGMENTED BY TABLES AND GRAPHS. COSTS ARE EVALUATED OVER THE SYSTEM LIFE SPAN FOR EACH SYSTEM ALTERNATIVE. EXPENSES INCLUDE DATA PROCESSING AND USER COSTS. SYSTEMS ALTERNATIVES INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING (1) FOR TYPE OF COMPUTER SYSTEM-TOTALLY CENTRALIZED, CENTRALIZED PROCESSING WITH REMOTE INPUT/OUTPUT, DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING, TOTALLY DECENTRALIZED, ANND MANUAL; (2) FOR METHOD OF ACQUISITION--PURCHASE AND VARIOUS TYPES OF LEASE; (3) FOR OPERATIONAL APPROACH--METHOD OF INPUT AND OUTPUT; (4) FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT--INHOUSE, STATE AGENCY, PRIVATE CONTRACTOR; AND (5) FOR SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION--GEOGRAPHIC AND FUNCTIONAL SCOPE. A WEIGHTING SCHEME FOR BENEFITS CAN BE DEVISED TO ASSIGN DOLLAR VALUES TO BENEFITS, A NECESSARY ELEMENT OF COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS. THE REPORT PRESENTS A MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW (BASIC CONCEPTS OF COURT ENVIRONMENT, TERMINOLOGY, AND METHODOLOGY USED), ASSUMPTIONS AND SYSTEM ALTERNATIVES (TYPES OF ASSUMPTIONS AND POSSIBLE SYSTEM ALTERNATIVES), AND METHODOLOGY. GENERAL METHODS FOR INTERPRETING RESULTS ARE DESCRIBED. TABULAR DATA AND FIGURES ARE INCLUDED. CASE STUDIES, REFERENCES, AND AN INDEX ARE APPENDED. (PRG)