If the sheriff had found out what was going on and then let them go, this wouldn't be news.

If the sheriff had arrested them and found out in the morning what was going on and then let them go, this wouldn't be news.

If the sheriff had arrested them and brought them before a judge who let them go, this wouldn't be news.

What actually happened is the sheriff found out what was going on, decided it was still criminal anyway, arrested them, and then the county charged and prosecuted them. The charges were eventually dismissed. That is why it's news.

And icing on the cake, the current county attorney disagrees with the dismissal done by his predecessor, and says that he will prosecute any future incidents of this nature. https://www.kcci.com/article/coalfire-contractors-settle-dal...