John William Beard (March 15, 1920 – February 7, 2006)[1] was a judge and served in the California legislature.

He attended University of Redlands before enlisting in the army and went to law school at Southwestern University School of Law upon completion of his military service.

He died February 7, 2006, in La Vida Real, a retirement community in Rancho San Diego, California.

[3] Beard was a pilot in the United States Army Air Forces in the European theatre of World War II.

He then served at the district attorney's office in Imperial County, California from 1952 to 1955.