SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT (SD) IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTINUED MAINTENANCE OF AN AUTOMATED OFFENDER BASED STATISTICAL AND TRACKING SYSTEM, AND THE DEVELOPMENT AND THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTRONIC MODULES FOR THE CONTROL OF FISCAL, PERSONNEL, AND INVENTORY ACCOUNTS. WITHOUT OFFLINE CAPABILITY, THE HARDWARE IS TIED INTO THE CENTRAL PROCESSING UNITS OPERATED BY THE MISSISSIPPI CENTRAL DATA PROCESSING. THE UNIT EMPLOYS A DIRECTOR, AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FOUR SYSTEMS ANALYSTS, A STATISTICIAN, A DATA CONTROL SUPERVISOR, AND SEVEN DATA CONTROL CLERKS. THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF EACH OF THESE STAFF ARE LISTED IN THE REPORT. THERE WERE 324 STANDARD REPORTS PUBLISHED BY SD DURING THE YEAR, BASED ON THE 3 OFFENDER FILES: INMATE, PROBATIONER, AND PAROLEE. AT THE TIME OF THIS REPORT, 16,709 OFFENDER RECORDS WERE ON THE COMPUTER, AND A TOTAL OF 1 MILLION ITEMS OF DATA WERE IN STORAGE. PLANS FOR 1982 TO 1984 INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE FILES: PURCHASE ORDER CONTROL, BUDGET CONTROL, PERSONNEL AND PAYROLL, AND INVENTORY CONTROL. OTHER FUTURE PLANS INCLUDE ONLINE UPDATING OF OFFENDER RECORDS; EXPANDING OFFENDER AND MANAGEMENT FILES; DEVELOPING A DATA BASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM; AND DEVELOPING MODULES FOR PRISON INDUSTRIES, FOOD SERVICES, AND PLANT MAINTENANCE. THERE WERE 82 AD HOC REPORTS AND 11 RESEARCH REPORTS PUBLISHED IN 1979. CHARTS ARE INCLUDED. (JLF)