LANCASTER - The lawyer for a North Country town clerk charged two months ago with stealing cash while on the job said Friday his client's devastated by the accusation, but determined to go to trial and prove she's innocent.

Sandra York, town clerk for about 33 years in Dalton, a rural Coos County community of fewer than 1,000 people just north of Littleton, was arrested in September on a charge of theft by unauthorized taking.

Through her attorney, Leonard Harden of Lancaster, York, free on bail, waived an arraignment hearing Wednesday in Lancaster District Court and entered a not guilty plea to the charge. York did not appear in court. Her trial has been scheduled for Dec. 31.

"She's extremely upset about it and emotionally distraught," Harden said of the theft accusation. York has declined comment since her arrest.

Three days after York's Sept. 24 arrest, two other town officials, Treasurer Sharon Tupper and Deputy Treasurer Sara Martineau, resigned their posts, citing the poor atmosphere that had developed at the town offices following York's arrest.

Court documents say York, 64, was caught on a security camera Aug. 9 taking $100 or more from the town's daily cash receipts and putting it in her pocketbook shortly before 5 p.m. The charge against her is a Class A misdemeanor that covers amounts up to $1,000.