The elected county sheriff is the last line of defense against the tyranny of the fedgov. If they are able to co-opt your sheriff with "free" money bribes, grants, joint "task forces", or equipment - beware.
I've recently been hearing that our democrat (big surprise) sheriff is quite corrupt. Seems we have a long history of large quantities of ingestible and smokable evidence disappearing following big drug raids under his watch. I've also notice that they're selective about who they keep in the jail here. I have met his challenger in this election. Nice guy. Of course, I didn't have much opportunity to get acquainted. I also discovered that the county administrator in our office is the ex-wife of said corrupt RAT sheriff.