Boerne attorney, a former judge, jailed on drug charge

Judge Kevin Fine during a hearing in the 177th District Criminal Court at Harris County Criminal Courthouse in 2010. Now a lawyer in Boerne with a criminal defense practice, Fine was arrested Monday in Kerr County and charged with attempted possession of a controlled substance. He was out on bond set for an earlier identical charge he faces in Kendall County. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle ) less Judge Kevin Fine during a hearing in the 177th District Criminal Court at Harris County Criminal Courthouse in 2010. Now a lawyer in Boerne with a criminal defense practice, Fine was arrested Monday in Kerr ... more Photo: Melissa Phillip /Houston Chronicle Photo: Melissa Phillip /Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Boerne attorney, a former judge, jailed on drug charge 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Kevin Fine, an attorney in Boerne who’d previously served as a state district judge in Harris County, was jailed Monday evening in Kerr County by authorities investigating claims he’d sought to trade legal services for drugs and sex.

Fine, 50, was arrested during a sting operation by the Kerrville Police Department’s special operations unit after seeking to sample what “a cooperating individual” told him was methamphetamine, according to Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer.

He was charged with attempted possession of a controlled substance, a third degree felony, and his bond was set at $25,000, Hierholzer said.

Fine already faced an identical charge in Kendall County, to which he pleaded not guilty after being arrested by Boerne police in an undercover operation there in April 2016.

“He’s a very, very fine criminal defense lawyer,” said Wallace Ferguson, Fine’s lawyer in the Kendall County case.

Kendall County District Attorney Nicole Bishop said Fine’s bond of $10,000 in that case was revoked Tuesday due to his arrest Monday.

“This is an incredibly unfortunate situation that demonstrates the significant impact that addiction has on so many members of our community,” Bishop said Tuesday. “As an officer of the court, attorneys are in a position of trust which requires they act with integrity and professionalism. Sadly, Mr. Fine has abused that trust.”

Fine, a Democrat, touted his own history of past drug use in his winning election campaign in 2008 for the bench in Harris County's 177th District Court.

“I ran because I felt like I could help more people as a judge than I could one at a time as clients,” he said, according to published reports. As a recovering addict, Fine said, he was “more qualified in the hopelessness and futility of addiction” than his opponent.

He generated headlines by declaring in 2010 the state's death penalty unconstitutional during a routine hearing, a ruling that was later reversed. He resigned the bench in 2012.

Sheriff Hierholzer said the most recent investigation of Fine began last month, “based on allegations that Fine was representing clients on drug charges and wanting to trade his services for either sex or drugs.”

The cooperating witness recorded conversations and exchanged texts with Fine to set up Monday’s meeting, where the informant “showed Fine that they had both cash and a substance purported to be methamphetamine.”

“Fine asked to use some of the purported methamphetamine and the surveillance officers arrested him and placed him in the Kerr County Jail,” said a press release issued by Hierholzer.

A jail official said Fine was in the process of bonding out Tuesday evening.

zeke@express-news.net