It's not even always so blatant. I currently live in a rural county in Maryland. A buddy of mine built a detached garage last year. Parts of it he contracted

It's not even always so blatant. I currently live in a rural county in Maryland. A buddy of mine built a detached garage last year. Parts of it he contracted out, and the contractors handled the permits. Other parts he did himself, and so had to file for his permits in person. It went something like this: Homeowner: "I'd like a permit to build a garage." County Clerk: "Your contractor will handle the permits for you." Homeowner: "I'm going to build it myself." County Clerk: "Why would you do something so selfish? Don't you want to create jobs for hard-working locals by hiring a contractor?" "Hard-working locals" being a euphemism for "My friends and relatives." The parts that were handled by contractors sailed through inspections. The parts he did himself, he had to wait months for a county inspector to come out and in some cases was repeatedly failed for bogus reasons. Nobody ever wanted a direct bribe, they just wanted him to pay their friends/family for services he didn't need.