After three OWI convictions, former prosecutor agrees to law-license suspension

The Iowa Judicial Branch's mission is to provide independent and accessible forums for fair and prompt resolution of disputes, administering justice equally to all persons. (Gavel photo by Getty Images; seal courtesy the State of Iowa)

A former county attorney who has been convicted of drunken driving on three separate occasions has agreed to a one-year suspension of her law license.

State records show that in 2018, Michelle Rivera, then in her seventh year as Clarke County’s top criminal prosecutor, was arrested on a charge of public intoxication after a deputy reported she was “slurring her words and stumbling on her feet” inside a courtroom.

Rivera was convicted and fined $65. She later apologized for her actions but lost her bid for reelection that year.

In December 2018, Rivera was arrested on a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated after police reported she came close to striking another vehicle and then ran a stop sign. She was convicted of the charge in March 2019.

Her next arrest came in January 2021, when she was pulled over on Interstate 35 with two small children in the car. Police reported she was seen “swerving all over the road,” had driven on the shoulder of the highway, and almost struck a semitrailer truck as she attempted to pass it. She was charged with, and later convicted of, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and two counts of child endangerment.

Rivera was arrested again in May 2024, when Osceola police responded to a report of a traffic accident. Officers reported that when they arrived at the scene, Rivera appeared drunk and was seen leaning on the driver’s side of the vehicle she had struck with her own car. After being convicted of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, Rivera was sentenced last month to two years in prison.

In September 2019, the Iowa Supreme Court suspended Rivera’s law license for 30 days. In October 2021, after the second drunken-driving arrest, the court suspended Rivera’s law license for 90 days.

Rivera did not apply for reinstatement of her law license until late last year, and her third arrest came just five months later, the Iowa Attorney Disciplinary Board noted in recommending that the court suspend Rivera’s license for six months.

Rivera had consented to a one-year suspension, but in making its recommendation for a lighter penalty, the board cited the fact that Rivera self-reported her arrest and cooperated with the board’s investigators. In addition, the board said, the 48-year-old Rivera has “engaged in robust efforts” to deal with her substance abuse issues and had completed a treatment program.

“Disciplinary cases involving a third-offense OWI have ordinarily resulted in six-month suspensions,” the board wrote in its recommendation.

The court has yet to issue a decision in the matter.