diff --git a/frontends/ParseRain.hs b/frontends/ParseRain.hs
index 5a76c65..ecc8bf7 100644
--- a/frontends/ParseRain.hs
+++ b/frontends/ParseRain.hs
@@ -246,24 +246,40 @@ expression
                <|> do {(m,op) <- monadicArithOp ; rhs <- subExpr' ; return $ A.Monadic m op rhs}
                <|> do {sLeftR ; e <- expression ; sRightR ; return e}
 
-innerBlock :: RainParser A.Structured
-innerBlock = do {m <- sLeftC ; lines <- linesToEnd ; return $ A.Several m lines}
+data InnerBlockLineState = Decls | NoMoreDecls | Mixed deriving (Eq)
+
+
+innerBlock :: Bool -> RainParser A.Structured
+innerBlock declsMustBeFirst = do m <- sLeftC 
+                                 lines <- linesToEnd (if declsMustBeFirst then Decls else Mixed)
+                                 case lines of
+                                   Left single -> return single
+                                   Right lines -> return $ A.Several m lines
   where
     wrapProc :: A.Process -> A.Structured
     wrapProc x = A.OnlyP (findMeta x) x
-    linesToEnd :: RainParser [A.Structured]
-    linesToEnd = do {(m,decl) <- declaration ; rest <- linesToEnd ; return [decl $ A.Several m rest]}
-                 <|> do {st <- statement ; rest <- linesToEnd ; return $ (wrapProc st) : rest}
+        
+    makeList :: Either A.Structured [A.Structured] -> [A.Structured]
+    makeList (Left s) = [s]
+    makeList (Right ss) = ss
+        
+    --Returns either a single line (which means the immediate next line is a declaration) or a list of remaining lines
+    linesToEnd :: InnerBlockLineState -> RainParser (Either A.Structured [A.Structured])
+    linesToEnd state
+               = (if state /= NoMoreDecls then do {(m,decl) <- declaration ; rest <- linesToEnd state ; return $ Left $ decl $ A.Several m (makeList rest)} else pzero)
+                 <|> do {st <- statement ; rest <- linesToEnd nextState ; return $ Right $ (wrapProc st) : (makeList rest)}
                  --Although return is technically a statement, we parse it here because it can only occur inside a block,
                  --and we don't want to wrap it in an A.OnlyP:
-                 <|> do {m <- sReturn ; exp <- expression ; sSemiColon ; rest <- linesToEnd ; 
-                   return $ (A.OnlyEL m $ A.ExpressionList (findMeta exp) [exp]) : rest}
-                 <|> do {sRightC ; return []}
+                 <|> do {m <- sReturn ; exp <- expression ; sSemiColon ; rest <- linesToEnd nextState ; 
+                   return $ Right $ (A.OnlyEL m $ A.ExpressionList (findMeta exp) [exp]) : (makeList rest)}
+                 <|> do {sRightC ; return $ Right []}
                  <?> "statement, declaration, or end of block"
+                 where
+                   nextState = if state == Mixed then Mixed else NoMoreDecls
 
 block :: RainParser A.Process
-block = do { optionalSeq ; b <- innerBlock ; return $ A.Seq (findMeta b) b}
-        <|> do { m <- sPar ; b <- innerBlock ; return $ A.Par m A.PlainPar b}
+block = do { optionalSeq ; b <- innerBlock False ; return $ A.Seq (findMeta b) b}
+        <|> do { m <- sPar ; b <- innerBlock True ; return $ A.Par m A.PlainPar b}
 
 optionalSeq :: RainParser ()
 optionalSeq = option () (sSeq >> return ())
diff --git a/frontends/ParseRainTest.hs b/frontends/ParseRainTest.hs
index 3b7e75d..50a40cc 100644
--- a/frontends/ParseRainTest.hs
+++ b/frontends/ParseRainTest.hs
@@ -338,29 +338,37 @@ testPar =
 
   ,pass ("par { {} {} }",RP.statement,
     assertEqual "Par Skip Test" $ A.Par m A.PlainPar $ A.Several m [A.OnlyP m emptyBlock, A.OnlyP m emptyBlock] )
+
+  --Rain only allows declarations at the beginning of a par block:
+
+  ,pass ("par {int:x; {} }",RP.statement,
+    assertEqual "Par Decl Test 0" $ A.Par m A.PlainPar $ A.Spec m (A.Specification m (simpleName "x") $ A.Declaration m A.Int) $ A.Several m 
+      [A.OnlyP m $ A.Seq m $ A.Several m []] )
+      
+  ,fail ("par { {} int: x; }",RP.statement)
  ]
 
 -- | Test innerBlock, particularly with declarations mixed with statements:
 testBlock :: [ParseTest A.Structured]
 testBlock =
  [
-  pass("{ a = b; }",RP.innerBlock,assertPatternMatch "testBlock 0" (tag2 A.Several DontCare [tag2 A.OnlyP DontCare $ makeSimpleAssignPattern "a" "b"]) )
-  ,pass("{ a = b; b = c; }",RP.innerBlock,assertPatternMatch "testBlock 1" (tag2 A.Several DontCare 
+  pass("{ a = b; }",RP.innerBlock False,assertPatternMatch "testBlock 0" (tag2 A.Several DontCare [tag2 A.OnlyP DontCare $ makeSimpleAssignPattern "a" "b"]) )
+  ,pass("{ a = b; b = c; }",RP.innerBlock False,assertPatternMatch "testBlock 1" (tag2 A.Several DontCare 
     [tag2 A.OnlyP DontCare $ makeSimpleAssignPattern "a" "b",tag2 A.OnlyP DontCare $ makeSimpleAssignPattern "b" "c"]) )
-  ,pass("{ uint8: x; a = b; }",RP.innerBlock,assertPatternMatch "testBlock 2" $ tag2 A.Several DontCare [tag3 A.Spec DontCare 
+  ,pass("{ uint8: x; a = b; }",RP.innerBlock False,assertPatternMatch "testBlock 2" $ tag3 A.Spec DontCare 
     (tag3 A.Specification DontCare (simpleNamePattern "x") $ tag2 A.Declaration DontCare A.Byte) $ tag2 A.Several DontCare 
     [tag2 A.OnlyP DontCare $ makeSimpleAssignPattern "a" "b"]
-   ])
-  ,pass("{ uint8: x; a = b; b = c; }",RP.innerBlock,assertPatternMatch "testBlock 3" $ tag2 A.Several DontCare [tag3 A.Spec DontCare 
+   )
+  ,pass("{ uint8: x; a = b; b = c; }",RP.innerBlock False,assertPatternMatch "testBlock 3" $ tag3 A.Spec DontCare 
     (tag3 A.Specification DontCare (simpleNamePattern "x") $ tag2 A.Declaration DontCare A.Byte) $ tag2 A.Several DontCare 
     [tag2 A.OnlyP DontCare $ makeSimpleAssignPattern "a" "b",tag2 A.OnlyP DontCare $ makeSimpleAssignPattern "b" "c"]
-   ])   
-  ,pass("{ b = c; uint8: x; a = b; }",RP.innerBlock,assertPatternMatch "testBlock 4" $ tag2 A.Several DontCare [tag2 A.OnlyP DontCare $ makeSimpleAssignPattern "b" "c",
+   )   
+  ,pass("{ b = c; uint8: x; a = b; }",RP.innerBlock False,assertPatternMatch "testBlock 4" $ tag2 A.Several DontCare [tag2 A.OnlyP DontCare $ makeSimpleAssignPattern "b" "c",
     tag3 A.Spec DontCare 
       (tag3 A.Specification DontCare (simpleNamePattern "x") $ tag2 A.Declaration DontCare A.Byte) $ tag2 A.Several DontCare 
     [tag2 A.OnlyP DontCare $ makeSimpleAssignPattern "a" "b"]
    ])
-  ,fail("{b}",RP.innerBlock)
+  ,fail("{b}",RP.innerBlock False)
  ]
         
 testEach :: [ParseTest A.Process]