Hon. Arthur Wesley Willis is a judge for the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois. He was elected to the Circuit Court in 2018.
While on the bench, Willis has held an assignment in the Pretrial Division.
He received a B.S. in news-editorial journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991. Willis then completed a J.D. at the University of Illinois College of Law in 1994.
Prior to joining the bench, he had worked as a public defender with the Cook County Public Defender’s Office since graduating from law school. As such, he served as a union steward and member of the Executive Board of AFSCME local 3315.
Willis was also an instructor and board member of Minority Legal Education Resources.
A married father of three, he was born and raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood on Chicago’s south side.
An active member of his church, Willis has served as an elder and national delegate at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Country Club Hills. He was also a former trustee of Resurrection Lutheran Church.
Willis is registered as a Democrat.