Raise Keeps State's Top Medical Examiner From Resigning

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The state's top medical examiner has withdrawn his resignation after the board that oversees the medical examiner's office voted to give him a raise of almost $50,000 a year.

Saturday, July 7th 2007, 2:01 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The state's top medical examiner has withdrawn his resignation after the board that oversees the medical examiner's office voted to give him a raise of almost $50,000 a year.

Officials say that after the unanimous vote to raise his salary to $235,000 a year, Jeffrey Gofton withdrew the resignation he submitted June 22nd.

A week before the vote, legislative leaders said they had agreed to provide almost $1 million in emergency funding for the medical examiner's office, to supplement its $4.8 million state appropriation for the 2008 fiscal year that began July 1st.

Officials have said the supplemental funds would permit the agency to raise salaries for the chief and deputy chief medical examiners as well as pathologists and boost recruitment efforts.

Officials at the agency have said funding problems threatened its national accreditation and future court cases.