Candidate profile: Robert “Hunter” Moose, County Court at Law Judge

Robert “Hunter” Moose is seeking the County Court at Law judgeship in what host Louis Amestoy described as “the most competitive race” on the ballot, emphasizing his specific experience in the court he aims to lead.

Moose, a sixth-generation local and 2008 Tivy High School graduate, currently serves as a prosecutor handling misdemeanor cases, mental health commitments and daily filings in the County Court at Law. His legal experience includes working for former County Attorney Rob Henne, the staff attorney’s office in San Antonio, private practice with the O’Fiel law firm and serving as first assistant prosecutor in Gillespie County.

While the local Republican Party ranked Moose No. 1 in its controversial endorsement process, he emphasized that longevity alone does not qualify a candidate.

“I don’t say that I’ve lived here for a long time because that innately makes me qualified, but this is my home,” Moose said. “I know what justice should look like for them and that’s what I want to bring to the table.”

Moose’s platform focuses heavily on modernization and efficiency within the courtroom. He argued the courtroom desperately needs technological upgrades to streamline how evidence is presented to juries.

“The example I give is in order to get something on the projector, it has to connect through an Elmo, through a mobile cart, and half the time if the setting is wrong, it doesn’t work,” Moose said.

He aims to digitize the County Court at Law, removing paper files based on his experience digitizing files for the county attorney’s office. Moose also proposed restoring the “jail docket via closed circuit TV,” a practice that faded during the Zoom era, to move cases along faster without physically transporting inmates.

“I think having a regularly scheduled jail docket we can utilize to bring the jail docket back and move those cases along,” he said.

Moose expressed strong support for the new mental health specialty court, saying he wants to continue its work helping people in crisis. He remains active in the community by coaching Mock Trial and Teen Court.

Acknowledging he is one of the younger candidates in the race, Moose argued his specific experience outweighs age concerns.

“I’ve been doing this in the county in this court for the majority of my legal career,” Moose said. “I think you need to look at experience over just age.”

In a reveal of his meticulous nature, Moose shared that he handwrote his entire bar exam. “My logic was my pencil couldn’t crash,” he said.

Moose directed voters to mooseforjudge.com and encouraged residents to attend upcoming candidate forums to compare candidates for themselves.