District Attorney Jeff Hunt graduated from Wake Forest University in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics. In 1975 he received his law degree from Wake Forest University and was licensed to practice law in the same year. He began his legal career at Long, McClure, Parker & Hunt, a trial firm in Asheville and Marshall, North Carolina. From 1981 through 1985 he was an in-house Trial and Labor Counsel for the Olin Corporation, Ecusta Group, in Brevard, North Carolina. Between 1985 and 1988, Hunt was a sole practitioner in Brevard, North Carolina. In 1988 he returned again, as partner, to the law firm, Long, Parker, Hunt, Payne and Warren, a trial firm in Asheville, North Carolina.

He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Transylvania Community Hospital from 1983 through 1985. He is currently a charter member of the Board of Trustees of Transylvania Community Hospital Foundation, Inc. He served various terms on the North Carolina State Board of Economic Development, the North Carolina State Banking Commission, and the North Carolina State Personnel Commission between 1984 and 1992, having been appointed to each position by Governor James Martin.