The sheriff's required by the Michigan Constitution to respond to and provide for the law and order needs of citizens within incorporated or chartered local government jurisdictions where local law enforcement officials are either unable or unwilling to respond to such needs.
With only 2 officers, they couldn't have made much difference anyway. I agree the sheriff should take over, but they would probably provide limited coverage as well.
That article leaves too many questions. How many people live there. And how can they have 2 officers but now can only afford one at a max of 24 hours a week?
If the town is only 500 citizens in size, they should have never started there own police deparment, they would never make it with all the overhead involved, cheaper to contract to the county sheriffs department.