24010.
(a) Notwithstanding any law, in counties with a population of less than 500,000, or in a county of any population that has adopted a charter, the board of supervisors may by ordinance abolish the office of coroner and provide instead for the office of medical examiner, to be appointed by the board and to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the coroner. The medical examiner shall be a licensed physician and surgeon duly qualified as a
specialist in pathology.(b) (1) Notwithstanding any law, in counties with a population of 500,000 or greater, but excluding a county that has adopted a charter, the office of the coroner or the sheriff-coroner’s office, as applicable, shall, commencing July 1, 2020, either be replaced with an office of medical examiner to exercise the powers and perform the
duties of the coroner without a public vote or
election, or adopt a policy requiring referral of death investigations to a county that has implemented an office of medical examiner for any case when there is a potential conflict of interest for the office of the coroner or the sheriff-coroner’s office, including, but not limited to, law enforcement officer-related deaths, deaths of family members of law enforcement officers, deaths related to the coroner’s or sheriff-coroner’s family, or deaths related to employees of those offices or family members of those employees.
(2) The office of medical examiner shall be headed by a chief medical examiner appointed by the board of supervisors of the county or by the county executive officer. The chief medical examiner shall meet all of the following requirements:
(A) He or she shall be a physician and
surgeon licensed to practice medicine in this state, or an osteopathic physician and surgeon licensed to practice osteopathic medicine in this state.
(B) He or she shall be in good standing with the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California.
(C) He or she shall be a board-certified forensic pathologist certified by the American Board of Pathology.
(D) He or she shall have practiced forensic pathology for at least three years following board certification.
(3) The chief medical examiner shall hire and supervise deputy medical examiners and other support staff as necessary to administer the office.
(c) Notwithstanding any law, whenever the term “coroner” is used, it shall be deemed to include the medical examiner for counties that have a medical examiner pursuant to this section.
(d) Notwithstanding any law, the office of medical examiner shall operate independently from any other county agency or official in the conduct of autopsies, including, but not limited to, exercising professional judgment to make determinations of cause and manner of death. This subdivision does not limit the authority of the board to supervise the conduct of the chief medical examiner pursuant to Section 25303.