Robert Thomas Hunter was born in Lawton, Oklahoma on September 29, 1907. He graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in law in 1934 and was admitted to the Washington Bar and established a private practice in 1935. Hunter served as Justice of the Peace in Grand Coulee from 1936 to 1946. He became Superior Court Judge for Grant and Douglas counties in 1946 and served in that capacity until 1957. In 1957 he was appointed to the Washington State Supreme Court, a position he retained through subsequent elections until his retirement in 1977. Hunter served as Chief Justice of the Court from 1969 to 1970.
From the guide to the Robert Thomas Hunter Papers, 1959-1976, (Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections)
