San Francisco losing its chief medical examiner

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco’s chief medical examiner is leaving for a new job in California’s Central Valley.

The San Francisco Examiner says Dr. Michael Hunter plans to step down in early July.

The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to appoint him as that county’s first independent chief medical examiner. The county is hiring his company - of which Hunter is the sole proprietor - for about $1 million a year.

Previously, the Sheriff’s Office oversaw coroner’s cases.

Hunter became San Francisco’s chief medical examiner in 2015 and was credited with reducing a huge case backlog. But he also faced criticism from the public defender’s office, which questioned the quality and ethics of his office.

Hunter also hosts a cable TV reality show called “Autopsy: The Last Hours of.”