David Glickler, a candidate for Hays County Court at Law, was arrested in 2004 after being pulled over and refusing to take a breathalyzer test, according to documents obtained by the American-Statesman.

Glickler, a prosecutor in the state attorney general’s office, was pulled over after driving backwards on a one-way street in Travis County, he said in an interview. He declined to discuss the issue in further detail.

“I learned from that poor decision and haven’t had any issues driving or otherwise since then,” he said.

Glickler spent one night in jail and ultimately pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless driving, according to his sentencing document.

Most of the records related to the incident in March 2004 are not available.

But the Statesman acquired a copy of Glickler’s petition for an occupational license in December 2004, while his license was suspended before he struck a plea deal. The document says his license was taken away for an “alleged offense … where he refused to give a breath specimen.”

His petition included a letter from Assistant Attorney General John Neal on the letterhead of Attorney General Greg Abbott detailing Glickler’s need for a car at work. At the time, he was an assistant attorney general in the criminal prosecutions division, Glickler said. He has since risen to deputy division chief.

If elected to Place 2 of the Hays County Court at Law, Glickler will hear cases like his own.

“I think it affects my perspective in a broader way for serving on the bench,” he said. “It gives me an enhanced insight to what each and every criminal defendant coming in the courtroom has dealt with. … It gives me a more open mind, which every judge should have.”

Glickler, a Republican, is running against Democratic incumbent Judge Linda Rodriguez. Rodriguez said her campaign also received a copy of the documents obtained by the Statesman but has not “released them.”

“I’ve been trying and wanting to run a positive campaign … based on my experience, my qualifications and the record I have,” she said.

While not for a high-profile office, the race is perhaps the most closely watched Hays County contest, with Democrats fighting to hang on to one of the few countywide offices they still have following the 2010 GOP takeover.