About Rick 

Elected to the State Assembly in 2002, Assemblyman Rick Keene represents the 3rd District including Lassen, Plumas, Yuba, Nevada, Sierra and portions of Butte and Placer Counties. Prior to being elected to the Assembly, he served as a councilman and mayor to the City of Chico.

Within months of his arrival to the Assembly, he assumed several leadership positions, such as Republican Whip and Vice Chair of the Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. Keene was also appointed lead Republican Member on Proposition 50, the “Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002.”

He has since become lead Republican on Budget and also serves on the Natural Resources Committee, Public Utilities and Commerce Committee and the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Services and Homeland Security. Chosen as Assistant Republican Leader, Keene serves as principal consultant to Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy on major policy issues and political strategy.

Since his Chico City Council days, Keene has remained firmly committed to fiscal responsibility and is consistently fighting to reduce taxes and wasteful spending. While in the Assembly, he has focused much of his time and effort on issues of great importance to the people of his district, namely the State Budget, Workers’ Compensation and now the State’s infrastructure needs.

Rick Keene has worked in many vocations in his life. He has set chokers in a logging operation, driven a forklift at a nut processing plant and driven a UPS truck. Prior to becoming a member of the Assembly, he served the community for 15 years as an attorney at his small law firm in Chico.

Assemblyman Keene worked his way through college and law school as a UPS driver, graduating from CSU, Chico in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a double major in Psychology and Religious Studies. He then went on to complete a Juris Doctorate Degree from Cal Northern School of Law in 1989. He is a member of the California State Bar Association.

The son of a logger, Rick Keene was born and raised in Hayfork, a rural community in Trinity County. Assemblyman Keene and his family have been residents of Butte County for over 30 years. He and his wife Janice of 26 years have five children: Erin, Christopher, Rosie, Caitlin and Lucy. The Keene family attends the Chico Neighborhood Church where Rick has served as an Elder. Assemblyman Keene also volunteers for local community charities working on parenting and poverty issues.

Assemblyman Keene has received several public service awards: the Patriots Award given by the Butte County Republican Party (1999); the Samuel Adams Award by the Local Government Council (1998); the Friend of Housing Award by the Building Industry Association (1997); and the Legislator of the Year Award by the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (2005). He has also received other awards for support and appreciation from community organizations, such as the Chico Boys and Girls Club and Project Sparrow.