history information through the statewide criminal history record information system and Automated Fingerprint Identification System. History Origins John Ricord served as the first Attorney General of Hawaii. He arrived in the Kingdom on February 27, 1844, on the Columbia. He was the first Western-trained lawyer in the islands. The previous year a land dispute by Richard Charlton led to a British occupation known as the Paulet Affair. A related case of Ladd & Co. required lengthy arbitration. These cases would consume his entire time on the islands. Within a few weeks he swore allegiance to Kamehameha III and on March 9, 1844, was appointed first Attorney General. In July 1845 he joined the Privy Council. On October 29, 1845, the executive branch of the government was formally organized through legislation he proposed. On May 17, 1847, he resigned all his offices, and on June 12 was released from his oath of allegiance, so he could resume his citizenship of the United States. He left August 19, 1847. The office of Attorney General was suspended until the 1860s. His work on organizing the courts was taken over by the second trained attorney to arrive in the islands, William Little Lee. Revival On August 26, 1862, Kamehameha IV revived the office and appointed Charles Coffin Harris as Attorney General. Having an attorney general proved useful on constitutional matters. Kamehameha V insisted on a new constitution that would restore some of the power to the monarchy that had been lost over time. Harris issued his legal opinion that the king had such a right and produced an early draft. A constitutional convention failed to reach agreement, so Harris got the cabinet to negotiate directly with Kamehameha V leading to the promulgation of the 1864 Constitution. Controversies A more modern controversy happened with the failed 1998 confirmation by the state senate of popular sitting Attorney General Margery Bronster, as political payback for her actions to reform the corrupt Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate whose trustees were friends of various powerful legislators, many Hawaii residents called for the right to elect the attorney general. Several attempts failed to create the constitutional amendment. List of attorneys general The attorneys general with dates of service: Kingdom of Hawaii Republic of Hawaii Territory of Hawaii Henry Ernest Cooper, 1899–1900 Edmund Pearson Dole, 1900–1903 Lorrin Andrews, 1903–1905 (grandson of missionary Lorrin Andrews) Emil C. Peters, 1905–1907 Charles R. Hemenway, 1907–1910 Alexander