Earlier in his career, he served six years in the Wisconsin State Senate as a Republican.

Arthur Cirilli was born in Eveleth, Minnesota, and raised in Iron County, Wisconsin.

He attended Hurley High School and Gogebic Junior College, in Ironwood, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

[4] He was re-elected to that office in 1973, and, after the 1978 judicial reorganization, was transitioned to the Douglas County Circuit Court.

He reached mandatory retirement on July 31, 1985, but continued to serve as a reserve judge and arbitrator.