This paper discusses optimal and suboptimal control policies which transfer second-order systems to the origin while minimizing some function of control effort
![f_{0}^{T}\\phi[u(t)]dt](/images/tex/4673.gif)
. The time of control

is specified only to the extent

, where

is the given upper bound on control time. Control systems with unequal negative real poles are considered. A computational scheme which yields the optimal control policies for these systems is developed, and suboptimal policies are then derived. The effects of suboptimal policies on
![f_{0}^{T}\\phi[u(t)]dt](/images/tex/4673.gif)
are also evaluated.