BY ARTICULATING THE MAJOR DECISION CRITERIA AND THE DECISION POLICY ASSOCIATED WITH THE VARIOUS COMBINATIONS OF MAJOR ELEMETS, A DECISION FRAMEWORK CAN BE CREATED SPECIFIC ENOUGH TO GUIDE AND CONTROL DISCRETION, YET FLEXIBLE ENOUGH TO ALLOW DEVIATION WHEN WARRANTED. THE PROPOSED GUIDELINES CONSIDER THREE MAJOR ELEMENTS: (1) THE GRAVITY OF THE CURRENT OFFENSE; (2) PAROLE PROGNOSIS; AND (3) INSTITUTIONAL BEHAVIOR. IN ACTUAL CASE DECISIONMAKING, A GUIDELINE WORKSHEET IS COMPLETED AT EACH INITIAL PAROLE SELECTION HEARING. THE BOARD REPRESENTATIVES MUST THEN DETERMINE WHETHER A DECISION WITHIN OR OUTSIDE THE SPECIFIED GUIDELINE RANGE IS APPROPRIATE. THE BOARD MUST STATE THEIR REASONS FOR ANY DEPARTURE FROM SUGGESTED ACTION. AN ANALYSIS OF 5,993 INITIAL HEARINGS INDICATED THAT 16.2 PERCENT OF THE DECISIONS WERE OUTSIDE THE GUIDELINES. BOARD POLICY PROVIDES THAT GUIDELINE USAGE IS TO BE MONITORED AND THAT THE GUIDELINES ARE TO BE REVIEWED AT REGULAR INTERVALS FOR POSSIBLE REVISION. THE GUIDELINES SYSTEM HAS WITHSTOOD VARIOUS COURT CHALLENGES, ALTHOUGH IT CONTINUES TO BE A SUBJECT FOR LITIGATION. THE GUIDELINE SYSTEM DOES NOT ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE ALL DISCRETION IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. RATHER, IT REPRESENTS AN ATTEMPT TO ACHIEVE A BALANCE BETWEEN UNSTRUCTURED DISCRETION AND A TOTALLY FIXED AND MECHANICAL APPROACH. TABLES AND GUIDELINE SHEET ARE APPENDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--MLC)