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Wis. AG mum on suspension of state fire marshal

By ASSOCIATED PRESS Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 5:29 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen refused to say Wednesday why the state fire marshal has been suspended.

Carolyn S. Kelly was suspended this week indefinitely with pay from her job as director of the arson bureau inside the Wisconsin Department of Justice. She had been in that position since 1994.

Kelly is also a senior homicide investigator for the department, where she has worked for 25 years.

“We in the Department of Justice are not going to be publicly discussing personnel issues,” Van Hollen said during a news conference he called to announce a new crime alert system for businesses. “Those are issues that are handled within the department.”

Kelly had been part of the team of state and local officials reviewing the October shooting deaths of six people by off-duty sheriff’s deputy Tyler Peterson. Van Hollen has promised to release some records relating to the investigation in the coming weeks.

Van Hollen would not say whether her suspension was related to that case. He did say he did not believe Kelly was under criminal investigation.

Kelly’s suspension was the second change in recent weeks at the top of the state Division of Criminal Investigation.

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Professor
Jan 31, 2008 at 1:20 p.m.
Suggest removal

Yet another situation from this office that reeks of politics.

Devilsadvocate
Jan 31, 2008 at 8:02 a.m.
Suggest removal

James Warren, the longtime DCI administrator and the state's top criminal investigator, resigned effective Jan. 2. In a December e-mail, Warren said his year working under Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, elected in November 2006, was "very difficult" and his future "looked even more difficult." Now the State Fire Marshall is suspended?? Van Hollen owes the public an explanation. He can't hide behind "personnel matter" forever. Hopefully the press will push for a further explanation.

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