Cordell D. Meeks was born 25 September 1914 in Little Rock, Arkansas to Reverend and Mrs. C. A. Meeks. After the family moved to Kansas City, Kansas, Meeks attended that city's public schools (Garrison, Douglass, Northeast Junior High, and Sumner High). He then went on to the University of Kansas, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1937 and, in 1940, a Juris Doctorate.

After graduating, Meeks worked in a private law practice in Kansas City, Kansas, opening his own office there in 1941. From 1947 to 1951, Meeks was an assistant District Attorney; seven years later, in 1958, he became a senior partner in the firm of Meeks, Gray, Franklin, Smith, and Whyte.

In 1972, Meeks, Sr. was elected Wyandotte County District Court judge, a position he held until his 1 January 1981 retirement. His election to the position made him the first African American elected to a Kansas District Court. In 1971, he was recommended for the Kansas State Supreme Court.

In 1950, Meeks, Sr. was elected Wyandotte County Commissioner; he served in that position for 24 years. He was elected Chairman of the Board in 1965. Meeks was also highly active in various community and political organizations, including the First A.M.E. Church, where he served on the Trustee Board; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); and the Democratic Party, for which he was a National Convention delegate in both 1949 and 1954.

On 22 December 1940, Meeks married Cellastine Brown of Topeka, Kansas. The couple had four children: Marlene, Cordell Jr., Marcena, and Marquita. Cordell D. Meeks, Sr. died in 1987.

Cordell Meeks, Jr., followed his father into the legal profession. Born circa 1943, he graduated from Sumner High School in 1960 and went on to earn both his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (1964) and law degree (1967) from the University of Kansas. While at KU, he was elected to the Student Council, was president of his law school senior class, and was a member of Sachem of Omicron Kelta Kappa, senior men's honor society. Following a fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in 1967, Meeks, Jr. began practicing law in Kansas City, Kansas in 1970 and, in 1976, became a municipal judge. After becoming senior partner in the law firm Meeks, Sutherland, and McIntosh, Meeks, Jr. was appointed District Court Judge for the 29th Judicial District of Kansas in 1981 by the governor, a position he held until his death in 2006.

In 1968, Meeks, Jr. joined the Kansas National Guard where he went on to become an Assistant Judge-Advocate General. Later, he graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas and reached the rank of Colonel. For his service as Chief Legal Clerk for Support Command at Fort Carson, CO, he received the Army Commendation Medal.

Meeks, Jr. was also active in numerous civic organizations, serving as president of the Mental Health Association, Legal Aid, KU Law Society, the Wyandotte Law Library, and the American Lung Association of Kansas. He was on the executive committees for the Greater Kansas City Region of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and on the board of directors of the Wyandotte County United Way, Rockhurst University, William Jewell College, Midwest Research Institute, Truman Good Neighbor Award Foundation, Swope Community Enterprises, the Wyandotte County Advisory Board for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City, and Children's Mercy Hospital (Kansas City, Missouri), where he was chairman of the board. He also served as chairman of the board for El Centro, the KU Law School Society Board of Governors, Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Kansas City, Economic Opportunity Foundation, Substance Abuse Center of Eastern Kansas, and the American Red Cross of Wyandotte County. He was secretary of the board of directors for the Turman Presidential Museum and Library, treasurer of the Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City, and vice chairman of the boards for Swope Health Services, Youth Friends, the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, and the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey.

In 1995, his service work was rewarded with the University of Kansas' Distinguished Service Citation; and, in 2001, he received the School of Law's Distinguished Alumnus Citation. In 2005 he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Baker University in Baldwin, KS.

Meeks, Jr. married Mary Ann Sutherland in 1967, and the couple had one son, Cordell Meeks III, who graduated high school in 1992 and now has his own son, Cordell Meeks IV. Mary Ann Meeks was on the Board of directors for Women in Kansas City.

Marlene Meeks worked as a teacher in the Kansas City, Missouri school district and married Rudolph Shelby. Marcena Meeks married Luther Chandler and owned the Sunshine Day Care Center, also in Kansas City, Missouri. Marquita Meeks married Cartrell Cross and became a professional violinist based in Houston, Texas.