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Caperton was one of four children born to Woods Allen Caperton (1920–2009) and the former Dorothy Steglich (1925–2005), a [[Lutheran]] couple in Caldwell in Burleson County locaed west of Bryan. Caperton's older brother, Mark Steglich Caperton (born 1946), is also an attorney and from 1975 to 1983 was the county judge in Caldwell. He was succeeded by their father, Woods Caperton, who retired after nearly three decades with the United States Soil Conservation Service, since renamed the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the agency which offers technical assistance to [[farmer]]s and ranchers. Woods Caperton was the county judge from 1983 to 1995 and also a long-time member of the Caldwell school and hospital boards. Kent Caperton has a sister in Austin, Roxanne C. Varner, married to Rodney Varner. A second brother, Clay Jason Caperton, died in 1987.<ref name=wac>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/statesman/obituary.aspx?n=woods-allen-caperton&pid=136060029|title=Woods Allen Caperton|publisher=''The Austin American Statesman''|date=November 17, 2009|accessdate=September 7, 2011}}</ref>​

Caperton was one of four children born to Woods Allen Caperton (1920–2009) and the former Dorothy Steglich (1925–2005), a [[Lutheran]] couple in Caldwell in Burleson County locaed west of Bryan. Caperton's older brother, Mark Steglich Caperton (born 1946), is also an attorney and from 1975 to 1983 was the county judge in Caldwell. He was succeeded by their father, Woods Caperton, who retired after nearly three decades with the United States Soil Conservation Service, since renamed the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the agency which offers technical assistance to [[farmer]]s and ranchers. Woods Caperton was the county judge from 1983 to 1995 and also a long-time member of the Caldwell school and hospital boards. Kent Caperton has a sister in Austin, Roxanne C. Varner, married to Rodney Varner. A second brother, Clay Jason Caperton, died in 1987.<ref name=wac>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/statesman/obituary.aspx?n=woods-allen-caperton&pid=136060029|title=Woods Allen Caperton|publisher=''The Austin American Statesman''|date=November 17, 2009|accessdate=September 7, 2011}}</ref>​

 

In 1967, Caperton graduated as student council president from Caldwell High School. He considered accepting a scholarship in [[golf]] from several smaller colleges, but the senior Caperton insisted that Kent attend nearby [[Texas A&M University]] in [[College Station, Texas|College Station]].<ref name=houch>Mark Smith and Roy Bragg, "Caperton leaves his mark on state politics," ''Houston Chronicle,'' June 6, 1990, State section, pp. 1–2.</ref> There in 1971, Caperton obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and was the student body president. Thereafter, he was an aide to the TAMU president prior to obtaining his legal credentials through the [[University of Texas]] Law School in Austin. In 1975, he was admitted to the bar and served for a year as an assistant state attorney general. In 1976, he returned to Bryan to enter private practice, with the firm Gandy, Mauro, and Caperton. After a stint too as the municipal judge,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/members/texas_senators/Public/Texas_Senate_67.pdf|title=Texas Senate|publisher=Texas Legislative Research Library|accessdate=March 21, 2020}}</ref> Caperton in 1980 unseated veteran state Senator William T. "Bill" Moore, a [[conservative]] Democrat, in the primary election with 52.6  percent of the ballots. Known as the "Bull of the Brazos," Moore had been in the Senate since 1949, the year of Caperton's birth.<ref name=houch/>​

In 1967, Caperton graduated as student council president from Caldwell High School. He considered accepting a scholarship in [[golf]] from several smaller colleges, but the senior Caperton insisted that Kent attend nearby [[Texas A&M University]] in [[College Station, Texas|College Station]].<ref name=houch>Mark Smith and Roy Bragg, "Caperton leaves his mark on state politics," ''Houston Chronicle,'' June 6, 1990, State section, pp. 1–2.</ref> There in 1971, Caperton obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and was the student body president. Thereafter, he was an aide to the TAMU president prior to obtaining his legal credentials through the [[University of Texas]] Law School in Austin. In 1975, he was admitted to the bar and served for a year as an assistant state attorney general. In 1976, he returned to Bryan to enter private practice, with the firm Gandy, Mauro, and Caperton. After a stint too as the municipal judge,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/members/texas_senators/Public/Texas_Senate_67.pdf|title=Texas Senate|publisher=Texas Legislative Research Library|accessdate=March 21, 2020}}</ref> Caperton in 1980 unseated veteran state Senator William T. "Bill" Moore, a [[conservative]] Democrat, in the primary election with 52.6  percent of the ballots. Known as the "Bull of the Brazos," Moore had been in the Senate since 1949, the year of Caperton's birth.<ref name=houch/>​