A PREDESIGN STUDY INDICATED MAJOR PROBLEMS INVOLVING LACK OF CENTRALIZED INFORMATION, DUPLICATION OF EFFORT, FORM ILLEGIBILITY, LACK OF COMPREHENSIVE REPORTING, INADEQUATE TIMELINESS, INEFFICIENT INMATE ACCOUNTING, PERSONNEL SHORTAGES, BARELY ADEQUATE FILE ACCESSING, AND INADEQUATE MECHANISMS FOR HISTORY RETRIEVAL. TO SOLVE MANY OF THESE PROBLEMS, A CENTRALIZED, REAL-TIME, AND INTERACTIVE MODE SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED. IN ADDITION, THE SOFTWARE WAS DESIGNED TO HAVE THE FOLLOWING FEATURES: EDITING; NAME SEARCH ROUTINES; SEARCH BY VARIOUS INMATE IDENTIFIERS; MULTIPLE REPEAT OF DATA FIELDS; MESSAGE SWITCHING AS WELL AS THE USUAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS; AND FILE MANAGEMENT, TRANSACTION, AND BACKUP PROCEDURES. A PROCEDURE FOR KEEPING CONSTANT TRACK OF INMATE MOVEMENT WAS ALSO INCORPORATED. THREE TYPES OF AUTOMATED OPERATIONAL REPORTS WERE TO BE PRODUCED: INMATE APPOINTMENT, OCCUPANCY, AND MANAGEMENT REPORTS. FOUR MAIN AREAS OF INMATE DATA WERE IDENTIFIED: PERSONAL, LOCATION, COURT, AND MISCELLANEOUS. CAREFUL IMPLEMENTATION PLANS WERE ALSO DRAWN UP. IT WAS DECIDED TO ISSUE A FACILITIES MANAGEMENT CONTRACT TO A SINGLE VENDOR WHO WOULD RECOMMEND HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BACKUP METHODS, DESIGN CHANGES, AND ESTIMATED PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND SITE IMPLEMENTATION TIMES. KEY IMPLEMENTATION DECISIONS TO BE MADE INVOLVED THE FOLLOWING: WHETHER TO IMPLEMENT THE SYSTEM AT ALL NINE FACILITIES SIMULTANEOUSLY, STAFF TRAINING PROCEDURES, NUMBER OF CRT (CATHODE RAY TUBE) TERMINALS REQUIRED, AND PROCEDURES INVOLVING THE CONVERSION OF THE MANUAL FILES AT THE FACILITIES ONTO THE COMPUTER SYSTEM. PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS FOR BOTH THE TRANSITION AND THE ONGOING OPERATIONAL PHASES WERE REVIEWED, AND MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS PERSONNEL TRAINING WAS UNDERTAKEN. TO AID TRAINING, AN OPERATOR'S MANUAL, A CODE BOOK, AND SELF-TESTING MATERIALS WERE DEVELOPED. A NUMBER OF PROBLEMS ARISING DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE REQUIRED SOME DEVIATION FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. AT THE TIME OF WRITING, ABOUT HALF OF THE INSTITUTIONS WERE USING THE SYSTEM AND WERE OPERATING WELL. IMPLEMENTATION IN THE REMAINING INSTITUTIONS IS EXPECTED TO PROCEED AS PLANNED. (JAP)