MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Republican J.B. Van Hollen made a lot of promises when he was running for attorney general.

Attack the state's DNA backlog. Restore professionalism to the Department of Justice. And keep a low profile.

Done, done and done, Van Hollen told the Associated Press in a recent interview. Give his first year in office an A, he said.

"We accomplished more in the first year than I perhaps envisioned we could have during my whole term," Van Hollen said.

But he still has plenty to deal with in 2008. Critics contend the attorney general is nearly invisible, his legal stances are too liberal and he mishandled the media after a grisly North Woods mass murder.

Crime in Milwaukee remains rampant, the Justice Department needs a new top investigator and Van Hollen has yet to follow through on vows to police elections more strictly.

Janine Geske, a Marquette University law professor and former state Supreme Court justice, said Van Hollen's year deserves a B+.

"I'd like to see him out more," Geske said. "It's more than (being) visible. It's being out there listening to people."

A former U.S. attorney, Van Hollen inherited a Justice Department struggling with image problems. His predecessor, Democrat Peg Lautenschlager, was arrested in 2004 for driving drunk in a state car and evidence in hundreds of cases sat waiting for DNA testing.

By the end of his third month in office, Van Hollen had won legislative approval to hire 31 new DNA analysts -- enough, he said, to wipe out the backlog by 2010.

Shawano Police Chief Ed Whealon, president of the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association, called the new analysts "huge."

"He's got the right ideas about what Wisconsin law enforcement needs," Whealon said.

Van Hollen said he also has restored "integrity" to the Justice Department. He instituted a dress code and has stayed largely behind the scenes -- a departure from Lautenschlager, whose missteps and press conferences kept her in the public eye.

But Geske said Van Hollen has been too low-key. He must be more visible, particularly in Milwaukee, where violent crime rages on despite his promises to curb it, she said. Whealon said he, too, wants Van Hollen front and center on a number of issues, including financial fraud, immigration and assault rifles.

"Part of the role of officials like him is to be out there explaining the role of the Department of Justice," Geske said.

The Republican faithful have taken Van Hollen to task for legal opinions that said the University of Wisconsin System could consider race in admissions and the state's partial-birth abortion is unenforceable. Charlie Sykes, an influential conservative radio talk show host in Milwaukee, wondered on air whether Van Hollen had "gone native" in liberal Madison.

Van Hollen took heat for telling reporters to leave Crandon residents alone after off-duty sheriff's deputy Tyler Peterson killed six people there in October. He's also been criticized for taking months to work the investigation, even though Peterson was found dead hours after the shootings of apparently self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

And the department's longtime chief investigator, Jim Warren, announced his resignation this month, saying in an e-mail saying the past year was "very difficult" and "circumstances beyond my control" forced him out. He did not return messages left at his home.

Van Hollen acknowledged he's had to adjust to the public scrutiny that goes with being an elected official. Few questioned his tactics or politics when he was U.S. attorney, he said. But he promised a higher profile in 2008.

"I will admit, in hindsight, if there is one thing I would change it perhaps is that, a little bit," Van Hollen said. "I perhaps could have been more forthcoming with things that are of interest to the people."

He said he has met with Milwaukee leaders about crime and is working with the district attorney's office there to bring back the county's witness protection program, which was eliminated in 2005.

He downplayed the Republican backlash, saying he gets along "phenomenally" with party activists and people must realize he will interpret the law as it's written.

Still, over the past three months he has issued opinions more in line with traditional GOP philosophy. One found the state can't issue professional licenses to illegal immigrants, and another said schools can't block student transfers to maintain racial balance.

As for Crandon, Van Hollen called the murders the most emotionally challenging thing he's faced since taking office.

"Until somebody has been in a situation like that, they've never experienced true anguish," Van Hollen said.

But he should have more clearly explained that he was merely relaying the families' wishes that reporters leave town, he said. He also should have emphasized the investigation would be complex and time-consuming.

He said he didn't know why Warren retired, but did say he worked with him extensively and there were times they agreed and disagreed.

Van Hollen's 2008 to-do list includes finding money for the Wisconsin Statewide Information Center, an intelligence clearinghouse for state, local, federal and military officials. Federal funding for the center ends in July.

Also on the agenda is following through on a campaign promise to crack down on election fraud by creating teams to police the polls and setting up a hot line to address problems quickly. He's abandoned plans to create a political corruption unit, saying it would duplicate the new Government Accountability Board.

He plans to run again in 2010 and would consider taking a shot at being governor, he said.

"I don't think I ever said during the course of the campaign that I was going to do all my work in one year and resign," he said.

But the chiefs association's Whealon said the jury is still out on Van Hollen.

"He's just gotten his feet wet," Whealon said.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)