THE ACT REPRESENTS A COMPLETE BREAK WITH THE 60-YEAR-OLD INDETERMINATE SENTENCING LAW WHICH WAS BASED ON OFFENDER REHABILITATION AND GAVE THE PAROLE BOARD ALMOST COMPLETE DISCRETION IN SETTING PRISON TERMS. IT PRESCRIBES A MIDDLE, MAXIMUM, AND MINIMUM TERM, THE MIDDLE ASSUMED TO BE MOST APPROPRIATE UNLESS THERE ARE MITIGATING OR AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES. THE LAW ALSO ALLOWS JUDGES TO IMPOSE CONCURRENT OR CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES FOR MULTIPLE CRIMES AND TO ADD ADDITIONAL TIME FOR GREAT BODILY INJURY, USE OF A WEAPON, OR OTHER AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES. PAROLE IS RETAINED BUT PAROLE BOARD DISCRETION IS REPLACED BY A 'GOOD TIME' FORMULA; PAROLE SUPERVISION IS FIXED AT 3 OR 5 YEARS DEPENDING ON THE OFFENSE. SENTENCING DISPARITY HAS BEEN REDUCED AND LARGER NUMBERS OF OFFENDERS ARE BEING SENT TO PRISON. THE IMMEDIATE COSTS OF THE ACT WERE SUBSTANTIAL. THE LEGISLATURE APPROPRIATED $9,583,200 TO IMPLEMENT THE BILL--$7,014,600 WENT TO THE CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT AND $2,568,600 TO THE COMMUNITY RELEASE BOARD. THE INCREASE IN PAROLE POPULATION COST AN ESTIMATED $1.5 MILLION, AND THE INCREASED POPULATION IN THE INSTITUTIONS $3,320,000 THE FIRST YEAR. A MAJOR EXPENSE WAS REVIEWING RECORDS OF 20,000 INCARCERATED FELONS WITH INDETERMINATE SENTENCES IN ORDER TO SET RELEASE DATES. HOWEVER, THE LARGER NUMBER OF PERSONS BEING SENT TO PRISON WILL PROBABLY RESULT IN CONTINUED HIGHER COSTS IN FUTURE YEARS. THIS ANALYSIS CONTAINS STATISTICS, NOTES, AND REFERENCES.