OBJECTIVES OF THE TEST DESIGN ARE TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SENTENCING GUIDELINES AS A MECHANISM FOR ENHANCING SENTENCING CONSISTENCY WITHIN STATES, TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING SENTENCING GUIDELINES ACROSS A NUMBER OF JURISDICTIONS WITHIN A STATE, AND TO PROVIDE A BODY OF KNOWLEDGE FOR JURISDICTIONS LOOKING FOR A MEANS TO STRUCTURE JUDICIAL DECISIONMAKING. THE METHODOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING GUIDELINES FOR TEST SITES INVOLVES THE SEQUENTIAL TASKS OF DATA COLLECTION, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF SENTENCING DECISION INFORMATION, GUIDELINE MODEL DEVELOPMENT, GUIDELINE VALIDATION, AND GUIDELINE USE, REVIEW, AND MODIFICATION. DURING THE COURSE OF THE EVALUATION, IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO CONSIDER A RANGE OF FACTORS INFLUENCING SENTENCING, INCLUDING EXPLICIT POLICY DECISIONS OF JUDGES, PRESCRIPTIVE PRESSURE OF THE GUIDELINES, CHANGES IN PROSECUTORIAL OR DEFENSE BEHAVIOR, AND LEGISLATIVE AND PUBLIC PRESSURES. THE FINAL STAGE OF THE EVALUATION FIELD TEST WILL INVOLVE THE IMPLEMENTATION AND PERIODIC REVIEW AND REVISION OF THE GUIDELINES WITHIN EACH JURISDICTION BY ALL AFFECTED JUDGES. NILECJ SUPPORT WILL BE PROVIDED FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. THE FIELD TEST SITE SELECTION CRITERIA ARE LISTED. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED.