According to the criminal complaint, an officer who arrived on the scene at East McLane Street and South View Drive noticed Rivera showed “impaired balance, slurred speech, bloodshot watery eyes and the odor of an intoxicating beverage coming from her person.” The officer wrote that when he asked Rivera how much she had to drink that day, she initially denied having consumed any alcohol before saying she had one drink at 5 p.m. at work, and then admitted to having four alcoholic drinks.

Rivera reportedly refused a standard field sobriety test and a preliminary breath test and was arrested for operating while intoxicated and taken to the Clarke County Jail. Rivera has since posted a $500 bond and is scheduled to be back in court on May 28. The third offense OWI is a Class D felony carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Rivera’s first OWI conviction came after she was arrested for drunk driving after she lost the November election for Clarke County attorney in 2018. Her second conviction came in March 2021, when she pleaded guilty to OWI and two counts of child endangerment – substantial risk. For that case, she received a suspended two-year prison sentence for each of the child endangerment charges. For the OWI, she also received a two-year prison sentence, with all but 30 days suspended. She was ordered to serve 30 days in the Warren County Jail and placed on probation.

According to the Iowa Department of Corrections website, Rivera completed her probation for the 2021 conviction on Feb. 16, 2023. As a result of Rivera’s 2018 arrest, some cases she handled in the courts were called into question. One case involving a man who admitted to child sex abuse was dismissed entirely.

Rivera was the Clarke County Attorney from 2011 to 2019.