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N.D. (AP) – A prisoner transport company says it should not have to pay costs to farmers who helped flush an escaped convict from a North Dakota cornfield near Oriska, N.D.

A federal lawsuit against Extradition Transport of America asks a judge to order restitution for several law enforcement agencies and the farmers who formed a posse for the October 2011 search.

Authorities say about $95,000 was spent recapturing Joseph Megna, who was being transported from Florida to Washington state when he escaped at a rest stop on Interstate 94 near Oriska.

The feds say the action is possible under a 2000 federal law passed following the escape in New Mexico of an inmate convicted of murdering an 11-year-old Fargo girl, Jeanna North.

The company says in a response filed Wednesday that the federal court does not have jurisdiction in the case and it should be thrown out.