Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen
Lynne Van Hollen
Lynne Van Hollen has been named an assistant legal counsel at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Van Hollen, who is married to Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, will start January 13, says Joy Staab, director of public affairs for the Department.
Staab says she did not know Van Hollen's salary and would have to check with the Human Relations coordinator who was out of the office Thursday.
Staab says the position is not an appointed post: "She did compete and she went through the typical interview process for the position."
The DOC's chief legal counsel, according to Staab, said more than a dozen individuals were "certified" as finalists and interviewed for the post. There were two rounds of interviews.
A committee consisting of the DOC's Deputy Secretary Deirdre Morgan, Assistant Deputy Secretary Scott Legwold and Chief Legal Counsel Kathryn Anderson interviewed all the finalists. Morgan and Anderson did a second interview with those who made the cut.
According to a State Bar of Wisconsin database, Van Hollen graduated from Marquette Law School in 1992 and is associated with the Van Hollen Law Offices in Waunakee, where she lives with her husband and their two children.
The firm does not have a website. The Government Accountability Board lists J.B. Van Hollen as a public official with a "financial relationship" with the law firm.
Staab was not able to provide details about Lynne Van Hollen's most recent work experience and attempts to reach Van Hollen by phone and email were not successful.
J.B. Van Hollen announced in October that he would not seek reelection in 2014. He told the Associated Press that he does not plan to run for higher office or join a private law firm when he steps down, but does hope to spend more time with his family.
"I really, really want to focus on my family a little bit more," he said.
Ed Wall, the secretary of the Department of Corrections, was one of J.B. Van Hollen's top deputies at the Department of Justice when he was tapped by Gov. Scott Walker in 2012 to head the Department of Corrections.
[Editor's note: This article is updated to correct Assistant Deputy Secretary Scott Legwold's name.]
