Kendra Necaise, The People’s Clerk

Noteworthy Women, December 2025

Kendra “KK” Necaise is now in her second term as Hancock County Circuit Clerk. Over her 38 years of public service, she has held every role, giving her a strong, first-hand understanding of how best to serve the people of Hancock County.

- Story by Maurice Singleton

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Kendra applied for a position in the Circuit Clerk’s office in November of 1987, shortly after newly elected circuit clerk Pam Metzler took office. Metzler hired her, and Kendra began what would become her lifelong career on December 7, 1987.
 
“Kendra is very, very smart, and very teachable,” said Metzler. “She likes everything perfect. She just took off and ran with it. She runs a tight ship, just like I did.”
 

 
Kendra earned her degree in psychology by taking classes three nights a week over an eight-year period, all while working full-time and raising two sons as a single parent. She says that although she’s never really used her degree, she has drawn insight from her education. This insight is evident in her approach and the way she treats everyone. 
 

 
The driving force behind her motivation to serve the people of Hancock County is an innate desire to help people. Her career and education were inspired by her family.
 
“Nobody in my dad’s family had gone to college,” said Kendra. “So, I really wanted that degree. I wanted to make my dad happy.”
 

 
KK is no stranger to hard work. As she reflected on her years in college, she recalled sometimes having to drive all the way to Gautier for classes. After completing her degree, and with more career options, she had to decide what would be the next chapter for her. She said the decision was an easy one.
 

 
“By that time, I had fallen in love with this job,” said Kendra. “Pam said that she wanted me to stay.” A raise and a promotion followed, and Kendra said that the more she worked in the Circuit Clerk’s office, “the more I loved it.”
 

 
The one area of her job that she finds particularly fulfilling is the courtroom. How individuals and families are affected are of particular interest to her. In the courtroom, you see people at many stages of life. The Court is a way to hold people accountable and provide justice to those who have been victimized. Kendra said, “I have empathy for people. I don’t ever look at them in that courtroom and judge them. I always look at them as somebody’s child.”
 

 
Her son, Bryce, clearly admires his mother and appreciates the way she worked hard to give him and his brother a good life, “She has always been selfless and giving. She would give even when she didn’t have anything to give. She has always done what she needs to do to put others first.”
 

 
Bryce has a vivid memory of his mother piecing coins together from the bottom of her purse to buy McDonald’s Happy Meals for him and his brother, while she went without eating. “She has done everything she could do to make sure that my brother and I had the things we needed.”
 

 
Kendra believes, in some ways, she has been given a second chance. She’s come a long way from working to raise her two sons as a single parent while going to college at night. Her mother supported her by helping with the children, and Metzler recognized something special in her and gave her a chance to start building her career.
 
“I can still remember her coming to the office in that blue knit sweater suit,” said Metzler. “Straight out of Dedeaux. But she was very teachable. And she is a really good clerk.”
 

 
One of KK’s current employees, Joleen Fore, chief deputy clerk, said Kendra has been a tremendous role model. “She has been like a big sister to me,” said Fore. “I’ve looked up to her, and I continue to look up to her..”
 
In the front corner of Kendra’s office is a cabinet that stores a variety of pants, jeans, shirts, skirts, sweaters and other clothing items that she shares with the people she is trying to help, trying to provide them a second chance. And just above that cabinet to the right is the motto that drives her service as Circuit Clerk: Stay humble, work hard and be kind.
 

 
“If you have the ability to help somebody, you should always help them,” said Kendra. “Even though you may have to work harder, you should go out of your way to help them.”
 
KK Necaise has been an asset to the citizens of Hancock County, even more so now as the circuit clerk. She continues to meet people where they are and offer a helping hand to lift them up and navigate often complex phases of life. Thank you for your service and career working to help our community!
 

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