For all we know, TA may be friends with the Sheriff. He's an elected politician.Agreed.
I think where this gets muddy is the fact that VB stated to the court she’s fearful and therefore requested the exchanges be accompanied by a deputy.
This was granted for some time.
Until it wasn’t…
Logistically and fiscally this isn’t possible for everyone and in every (or most) custody cases.
And yes, there’s an option they could have gone to the station to do the exchange…but something tells me TA would not give that grace to VB. And that sheriff saying theres no need for LE present during the exchanges was exactly how TA wanted it to play out.
JMO