Advertisement
In a request under the state’s open records law, the newspaper asked for any e-mails sent by or to Fire Marshal Carolyn S. Kelly that could be construed as a potential threat.
Department officials declined on Friday to release any e-mail.
“The Department of Justice does not comment on personnel matters,” Kevin St. John, spokesman for Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, said Saturday.
Department official Dean F. Stensberg responded to the newspaper’s request. He said the e-mail involved is part of a pending investigation involving “possible misconduct” of a Justice Department employee.
The newspaper reported that the employee is believed to be Kelly, although she was not named in the response. It wasn’t known whether she sent or received the e-mail or e-mails, although no other employee at the state Justice Department has been suspended or disciplined.
The content of the e-mail, the nature of the perceived threat and who sent and received it could not be determined by the newspaper Friday.
Kelly was suspended 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 worked for 25 years. She will continue receiving her $87,107 salary while she is investigated.
Her suspension was the second change in recent weeks at the top of the state Division of Criminal Investigation.
The former head of the division, Jim Warren, announced his sudden retirement in December, saying in an e-mail that the past year under Van Hollen was “very difficult.” Van Hollen has also refused to discuss the Warren case.
When Kelly’s suspension became public on Wednesday, Van Hollen said it did not result from any criminal investigation.
Kelly said when reached at her home on Saturday that the letter informing her of her suspension did not mention any e-mails. She said she has had no contact with any Department of Justice officials since she received the letter on Monday. Kelly said she did not know why she was placed on leave and the letter said the reason was pending an investigation.
“They’re pending an official investigation,” she said. “I don’t know any of the specifics.”
She referred further questions to her attorney, former Deputy Attorney General Dan Bach.
Bach told the newspaper that Justice Department officials have not told Kelly what e-mails are involved, so she does not know why she was suspended.
“She has been a respected and highly valued Department of Justice employee for 25 years who has never been the subject of disciplinary action,” Bach said.
He said that in the past issues involving alleged employee misconduct were investigated by a Justice Department official, who would meet with the employee involved. That didn’t happen with Kelly, Bach said.
