Former Stanislaus court clerk’s case moves to trial

A former Stanislaus Superior Court clerk on Monday waived her right to a preliminary hearing, which moves her case straight to trial.

Dawn Marie Rios of Riverbank, has been charged with felony counts of embezzlement by a public official and altering or destroying court records while on the job. She is scheduled to return to court Feb. 3 for an arraignment hearing.

Rios’ preliminary hearing initially was scheduled to start Thursday.

Police investigators have said the defendant accepted court fee payments and marked them as paid, but later voided the transactions so they would not show on the register.

The defendant is accused of stealing at least $4,000 over a year. She worked as a clerk at the downtown Modesto courthouse for 10 years and was responsible for collecting court filing fees.

Rios has resigned from her job, according to court officials. She remains out of jail while awaiting her trial.

This story was originally published January 5, 2015 at 12:53 PM with the headline "Former Stanislaus court clerk’s case moves to trial."