MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Working under Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen was "ugly" and a "constant war," the state Justice Department's former top detective said in e-mails to colleagues.

Jim Warren led the agency's Division of Criminal Investigation for 10 years, serving under Democratic Attorney Generals Jim Doyle and Peg Lautenschlager. He resigned in January, a year after Van Hollen, a Republican, took over.

"The last year has been really ugly for me and this retirement was pretty much shoved down my throat," Warren wrote to Special Agent Jay Novak in December. In another December e-mail to Special Agent Jon Spallees, Warren wrote, "I would love to stay on, but the constant war with the current administration just got to be too much."

Warren didn't go into detail in the e-mails to Novak, Spallees or dozens of other colleagues on exactly what led him to retire. He did say in an e-mail to DOJ Management Services Administrator Cindy O'Donnell that agency officials gave him "stupid and unethical options."

Warren told the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper he decided to quit after Deputy Attorney General Ray Taffora and Executive Assistant Dean Stensberg told him in early December he would be reassigned to head the Training and Standards Bureau, which oversees police training.

The move was an "unethical" demotion, he said.

Justice Department spokesman Kevin St. John declined to comment other than to say Warren "was never asked to leave DOJ."

Special Agent John Christopherson wrote an e-mail in December to Van Hollen himself questioning what was happening to Warren.

"JB, I do have confidence in you, but in this case I sure hope you know what you are doing," Christopherson said. "From an agents stand point, Jim Warren was the catalyst of our agency and brought our moral, professionalism and integrity to an all time high."

"What I did was accept his retirement," Van Hollen replied. "I would certainly hope you have confidence I could do that. I guarantee you that DCI will continue to be a shining star in all categories."

DCI has gone through two major personnel changes since Van Hollen took office. First Warren resigned, then Van Hollen suspended Carolyn Kelly, the state fire marshal and head of the special assignments' bureau, earlier this year. Van Hollen has never explained why, but Kelly's attorney, Dan Bach, has said agency investigators are looking into whether Kelly improperly used her e-mail.

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Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, http://www.madison.com/wsj

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)