Yes plus there's the bit about the sheriff departments themselves, they are their own little fiefdom. This link really brings it home for me:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/14/593204274...

Note, this is legal behavior. They are their own little governments with the only repercussions being their next election cycle, and we all know what sort of folks we tend to vote for.