The city of Moss Point will hire a police officer to keep track of evidence for criminal cases.

The decision by the board of aldermen Tuesday came after misplaced evidence last month resulted in murder charges against two suspects being dropped.

Aldermen voted to replace one of the open officer positions with the evidence technician for at least the next six months, until the new budget is created in October.

Capital murder charges against two suspects were dismissed without prejudice in February because key evidence could not be found and because uncooperative witnesses were unwilling to come forward with information, officials have said.

Some audio recordings were later found.