Cynthia Hayes is an attorney licensed in the State of Texas since 1985. She is a member of both the Employee Retirement System of Texas and the City of Austin Employees’ Retirement System. She lives in Austin with her husband Bill Hunter, who is a former assistant attorney general and who is also a member of the Employee Retirement System of Texas. She began her work life in Texas at the University of Texas as an administrative assistant to deans of the College of Fine Arts and College of Communication. In 1982, she left UT to attend law school at Texas Tech University, from which she received a J.D. in 1985. From 1985 to 1995 she worked for the predecessor agencies to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as a hearings examiner, Public Interest Counsel, and assistant chief hearings examiner. In 1995, she was hired by the State Office of Administarive Hearings. She retired from SOAH in December 2001 with 24 years of state service. She immediately began working for the City of Austin as an Assistant City Attorney in the Legal Division of Austin Energy. She retired from the City with 8 years and several months of service in March 2010.