By Ken Raymond
Staff Writer
He has accepted a position as assistant medical examiner in Virginia, where he will run the Norfolk office, an official said.
In an e-mail to the Board of Medicolegal Investigations, Gofton, 38, said that working in Oklahoma has "been a spectacular experience” and praised his "wonderful staff.”
He did not explain in the e-mail, which is dated June 2, why he is quitting the Oklahoma position.
His last day of employment will be July 21, although his e-mail indicates he will use 115 hours of accrued vacation leading up to that date.
Kevin Rowland, chief investigator for the medical examiner's office, said Gofton will not comment on his decision to leave the state.
A previous goodbye
This isn't the first time Gofton has resigned his position.
In mid-June 2007, Gofton tendered his resignation in the midst of an apparent budget crisis that threatened to leave the medical examiner's office understaffed and in danger of losing its national accreditation.
Rowland sent a letter to funeral directors and district attorneys on June 19. It warned of dire consequences — lengthy delays, fewer autopsies, more rulings of "undetermined” deaths and fewer payouts from insurance companies — if Gofton left and if the office didn't receive more funding.
About a week later, legislators agreed to provide nearly $1 million in emergency funding. Almost $50,000 of that went to increase Gofton's salary to $235,000. He withdrew his resignation in July.
The process rubbed some lawmakers the wrong way.
"When they requested more money, they went to the funeral homes instead of the Legislature, getting them to put on pressure,” said Rep. Lucky Lamons, D-Tulsa.
Legislators later learned the medical examiner's office had about $1 million available without the emergency funding, Lamons said.
More controversy
Within months, Gofton's office was under legislative scrutiny again.
His plan to streamline operations by moving all autopsy services to Oklahoma City met with stiff resistance from Tulsa lawmakers, including Lamons. The plan was tabled indefinitely.
The move was enough, though, to increase attention on legislation to put the medical examiner's office and other agencies under the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation or the governor. That legislation failed to advance.
Gofton's office also underwent an investigative audit into allegations of impropriety involving the harvesting of organs and tissue for organ sharing networks. Those allegations proved unfounded.
Lamons requested the investigative audit. He also asked the governor to seek a performance audit of Gofton's office. That request, he said, was denied.
Tuesday, Lamons criticized Gofton's management of the medical examiner's office, saying Gofton allowed himself to be influenced too much by Rowland and ignored protests from legal and law enforcement experts about his plan to stop conducting autopsies in Tulsa.
"I wish Dr. Gofton all the good luck that can come with a new position,” Lamons said, "but we have a responsibility to the citizens of Oklahoma.”
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