OHIO PAROLE BOARD MEMBERS HAVE TWO PRIMARY CRITERIA: THE NATURE OF THE CRIME AND THE INMATE'S LIKELIHOOD OF RETURN TO CRIME. THESE VARIABLES CORRESPOND CLOSELY TO ITEMS FOUND ON GUIDELINE MATRICES USED IN A NUMBER OF STATES. ANALYSES OF ALL PAROLE APPLICATIONS BETWEEN AUGUST AND NOVEMBER OF 1978 FINDS THAT A COMBINATION OF CRIME SEVERITY AND PAROLE RISK PROVIDES GOOD PREDICTION OF PAROLE SUCCESS. THE PROCESS CAN BE IMPROVED BY ADOPTING A FORMAL RISK SCALE, SUCH AS IS FOUND IN A NUMBER OF OTHER STATES. DATA FROM THE OREGON OFFENDER HISTORY SCALE IS THEN USED TO ILLUSTRATE IN DEPTH WHAT GUIDELINES WOULD LOOK LIKE IF ADOPTED IN OHIO. MENTION IS ALSO MADE OF THE MINNESOTA RISK OF FAILURE SCALE. APPENDED MATERIALS CONTAIN THE TWO RISK SCALES, EXAMINED IN DEPTH, STATISTICS FROM THE PAROLE STUDY AND THE UNITED STATE PAROLE COMMISSION SALIENT FACTOR SCALE.