A lifelong resident of Greensburg, Carter in 1953 graduated as the valedictorian of Greensburg High School and then attended [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. In 1956 at the age of twenty-one, he was elected [[mayor]] of Greensburg. He graduated first in his 1958 LSU law school class. He served in the [[United States Army]] during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] and rose to the rank of captain. He practiced law in Greensburg until 1974, when he was appointed judge of the 21st Judicial District. He was subsequently elected in 2000 to the First Circuit Court of Appeal, of which he presided for a decade as the chief judge. In that capacity, he oversaw the planning and construction of the First Circuit building on Capitol Lake in East Baton Rouge Parish. Even after retirement in 2012, he served on an ''ad hoc'' basis on various courts, including multiple times on the Louisiana Supreme Court.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url= | A lifelong resident of Greensburg, Carter in 1953 graduated as the valedictorian of Greensburg High School and then attended [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. In 1956 at the age of twenty-one, he was elected [[mayor]] of Greensburg. He graduated first in his 1958 LSU law school class. He served in the [[United States Army]] during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] and rose to the rank of captain. He practiced law in Greensburg until 1974, when he was appointed judge of the 21st Judicial District. He was subsequently elected in 2000 to the First Circuit Court of Appeal, of which he presided for a decade as the chief judge. In that capacity, he oversaw the planning and construction of the First Circuit building on Capitol Lake in East Baton Rouge Parish. Even after retirement in 2012, he served on an ''ad hoc'' basis on various courts, including multiple times on the Louisiana Supreme Court.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url= |