State suspends fire marshal, but no one’s saying why

MADISON — The state fire marshal was suspended this week by state Department of Justice officials, who refused to discuss their action or why they took it.

Carolyn S. Kelly, who was appointed as director of the Justice Department’s Arson Bureau in 1994, was suspended indefinitely with pay from her $87,107-a-year job, sources said.

“As a matter of general policy, we do not comment on personnel actions concerning individual employees,” said Special Assistant Attorney General Kevin St. John, chief spokesman for Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

Kelly, a member of the state civil service system and also a senior homicide investigator for the department, refused to comment Tuesday.

She has worked for the Justice Department for about 25 years.

Kelly had also been part of the team of state and local officials reviewing the Oct. 7, 2007, shooting deaths of six people at a party by Tyler Peterson, a Crandon police officer and Forest County deputy sheriff who investigators say then killed himself.

Van Hollen has promised to make public some records of the investigation in coming weeks.

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

James Warren, former director of that agency, suddenly retired in January after telling colleagues in an e-mail his year working for Van Hollen had been “very difficult.” Officials have declined to talk about the circumstances leading up to Warren’s retirement.

Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

— Copyright © 2008, Milwaukee

Journal Sentinel/Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information

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