Devine grew up in Rogers Park, Chicago, and played football and basketball at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois.
He attended John Carroll University for one year on a football scholarship but returned home when his father's health worsened after a stroke.
[4][5] He was President of the Chicago Park District from 1990 to 1993, and a member of the court-reform commission created in the wake of the Operation Greylord.
Devine was elected in 1996 as the Cook County State's Attorney, unseating incumbent Republican Jack O'Malley in an upset victory.
Devine appeared in Surviving R. Kelly, a 2019 Lifetime documentary series about sexual abuse allegations against musician R.