Keen A. Umbehr was a trashman for seventeen years before deciding to sell his business and return to college. After graduating with honors from Kansas State University, Keen enrolled in Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas. He graduated from law school on May 14, 2005, passed the bar in July, and was sworn in on September 30, 2005. He is currently in private practice in Alma, Kansas. (See WIBW news footage.)

While Keen was operating his trash business in Alma (Wabaunsee County), Kansas, he also wrote a weekly newspaper column called "My Perspective," where he often criticized the local county commissioners. After the commissioners terminated Keen's ten-year contract (despite the fact that he had never missed a day), Keen filed a 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 lawsuit alleging that the termination was in retaliation for his decision to exercise his First Amendment rights. The case wound its way through every level of the legal system, ending up at the United States Supreme Court. On June 28, 1996, the  Justices ruled 7-2 in favor of establishing First Amendment rights for private contractors throughout the country. (See Oyez.org)             

The Topeka Capital-Journal selected Keen as one of eight Distinguished Kansans for 1996. In 1998, Keen was the recipient of the Free Spirit Award from The Freedom Forum - a nonpartisan foundation based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people.