CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- A new court date and venue has been set for two former Caruthersville law enforcement officials accused of forgery and stealing thousands of dollars from the Criminal Investigation Fund.

Chris Riggs, who resigned as chief of police, and Marcus Hopkins, who resigned at a Bootheel Drug Task Force agent, had requested a change of venue that was approved in January. Both will appear in Dunklin County Circuit Court.

Hopkins is set to appear March 14, and Riggs is to appear March 29.

According to a criminal affidavit filed with the court, Riggs has been charged with 24 counts of forgery and one count of stealing, and Hopkins has been charged with 11 counts of forgery. The document said that Hopkins' role in the alleged crimes involved him forging signatures and amounts paid for phantom task force expenditures.

The expenditure logs Hopkins was signing were actually an attempt to cover up the fact that Riggs was writing checks to Hopkins and then forging Hopkins' signature on the checks before cashing them, investigators said. Riggs allegedly wrote checks from $500 to $6,000 over a nearly two-year period.

Both Riggs and Hopkins remain free after posting a $200,000 bond each in early October.

Pertinent address:

Caruthersville, MO