At the time of his death, Hays still held the record for the most opinions authored by a justice in any single year (100).

[4] In 1952, while acting City Attorney, Hays worked to desegregate Sky Harbor Airport.

[5][6] In November 1952, Hays was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives as a Republican legislator from Maricopa County.

[9] Hays's judicial career began in 1960 when Arizona Governor Paul Fannin appointed him to be a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge.

On the bench, Hays wrote a notable dissent in Grimm v. Board of Pardons & Paroles,[11] writing, "Beware, oh unsuspecting trial judge, that when your decision to place a felon on probation goes horribly awry, the majority of my brothers sitting in cloistered ivory tower call your actions gross and subject you to the consequences thereof.