The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Ricord, John

RICORD, rĭk'ôrd, or RICARD, John, American lawyer; prominent in Hawaiian affairs in 1843-47. He is stated by some authorities to have gone to Hawaii from Oregon while others speak of him as a young lawyer who arrived from New York. He reached Hawaii in October 1843, was appointed attorney-general in 1844, and in 1845, by request of the legislature, he prepared three bills which were practically amendments to the constitution, providing for the establishment and defining of the duties of an executive department of the government and also for a judiciary independent of the executive branch of the government. Regular cabinet departments were established, the Premier being Minister of the Interior, while other departments were foreign affairs, finance, public instruction and attorney-general. As far as was practicable Ricord sought to establish the common law of England in the islands, and the statute laws drafted by him and passed by the legislature remain in a large measure still in force. He left the islands in 1847.