In spite of the Smith County Sheriff Office’s best intentions, two suspects in a pair of armed robberies last year were released from jail. The Sheriff’s Office failed to get their cases to the District Attorney’s office for grand jury review within the 90-day time limit, and by law the men had to be released on personal recognizance bonds.

Aside from the fact these men are clear flight risks — facing armed robbery charges — the fact is they’re dangerous. And Sheriff Larry Smith himself acknowledged this when they were arrested in November. This isn’t a clerical error. It’s a serious mistake and a violation of the public’s trust.

When this same situation developed last July, the sheriff pledged to fix it. At that time, a total of eight people — including one man accused of shooting three people in 2013 — were released because the Sheriff’s Office dropped the ball.

“I have been in law enforcement for 37 years, and many of those in criminal investigations, so I know what it takes to get a case indicted,” Smith said in July. “However, I am not going to say that the people you have brought up were not on this department and ultimately me.”

Smith’s attitude in July was telling.

“I am not passing the buck to anybody else,” he said then. “But I do think with a 24- hour operation and 362 employees, we’re going to have things happen. The general public may think we have dropped the ball or put them at risk or whatever, but all this has done is to allow this individual to make bond or PR bond. It does nothing whatsoever or change whatsoever the outcome of the criminal case.”

No — but it does leave suspects on the street.

This time around, Smith was more contrite.

“I will confirm that we have once again failed to file a case in a timely manner,” Smith said Tuesday. “I have instructed the CID (Criminal Investigations Division) supervisor to conduct an internal investigation regarding this failuref. I am not at all pleased with the situation.”

There are also questions about the release of a known pimp last week. In a big bust in February, deputies nabbed 25-year-old Micheal Lorenzo Taylor, AKA Sippy, who they said sold drugs and engaged in human trafficking by running a prostitution ring. Yet he was only ever charged with a parole violation on a possession conviction?

We seem to be getting bad guys off the street, at least temporarily.

The real problem is clear — interagency communication. Smith must acknowledge this.

The District Attorney’s Office is frustrated. It can’t send cases to the grand jury if the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t deliver them.

“Obviously this is a serious offense, and anytime you have a gun involved in a crime, the case is very important to us,” District Attorney Matt Bingham said last week. “The communication has been better and this is the first time we have had problems of this nature since last July.”

But it’s a pattern the public cannot afford. Things overlooked with minimal impact to the safety of the public are one thing.

However, when dangerous criminal defendants are released due to circumstances already under review, it indicates an unacceptable lack of attention to detail.