Iowa’s secretary of labor has joined private-sector creditors and other government agencies in seeking to move bankruptcy proceedings for Agriprocessors, the beleaguered kosher meatpacking firm, from New York to Iowa, but the company is seeking to delay court deliberations about where the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case should be heard.

On Nov. 4 Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy in Brooklyn, N.Y., the original home of the Rubashkin family, which owns and operates the Iowa plant where 389 illegal immigrants were arrested last May. It was the biggest raid on undocumented workers in American history, resulting in the criminal prosecution and deportation of more than 300 workers and the indictment of eight Agriprocessors employees, including former Chief Executive Sholom Rubashkin.

Last Friday, attorneys for Agriprocessors filed a request for a one-week delay with Judge Carla E. Craig, stating that Bernard Feldman, chief executive for the meatpacking plant, planned to join Joseph Saracheck, operating bankruptcy trustee, on a tour of the Postville facility and would be unavailable for the previously scheduled hearing on the change of venue.

In an affidavit submitted to  the court Monday, Labor Commissioner Dave Neil said the case should be moved because of existing and potential debts owed by Agriprocessors to Iowa and the added expense the state could incur by battling for their interests in a New York bankruptcy court. He noted the state has filed two notices of civil penalty against Agriprocessors, both of which have a response date of Nov. 30. If the company does not respond by the deadline, the penalties outlined by the state — totaling nearly $10 million — become the final agency action, and are not open to review by any other agency or court.

David Eskew, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York representing the Agriculture Department, also filed a declaration with the court indicating the agency’s support for moving the proceedings to Iowa.

“There is a strong interest in administering this chapter 11 case in the same district where the debtor is the subject of (a) pending criminal prosecutions by the U.S. and (b) ongoing federal regulation and oversight with respect to the debtor’s business activities,” Eskew wrote.

One of the firm’s private sector creditors complained about Agriprocessor’s request for a delay.

“The irony of the debtor’s request should not be lost on the court,” wrote Brian Walsh, attorney for First Bank Business Capital, a creditor that filed suit against Agriprocessors for $35 million in unpaid debt.

“Although the debtor contends that its principal place of business is located in New York and that it would be inconvenient if the case were transferred to Iowa, Mr. Feldman proposes to travel to Iowa (where his presence is not required) and to be unavailable for the scheduled hearing,” he said in a motion filed Monday.

It was the second time Agriprocessors attorneys have sought a such a continuance, Walsh noted.

“For the second Friday in a row, the debtor has sought last-moment relief to address an urgency that is of its own creation,” he argued. “We understand that Mr. Feldman’s presence in Iowas has not been required by the trustee and that, indeed, the trustee has requested that Mr. Feldman not make the trip if it would interfere with the determination of the pending venue motion.”

While many creditors have joined with First Bank in requesting the venue change, only one creditor has filed formal opposition with the court. Moriah Capital, an unsecured creditor listing at least $1.5 million in unrecovered debt, hopes the court will keep the proceedings in New York. Moriah indicated its loans were made to Cottonball, L.L.C., an Agriprocessors-affiliate that owns several chicken coops.

Neil’s affidavit also informed the New York court of the more than $500,000 in illegal wage deductions, unpaid employee wages and unpaid Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration penalties owed by Agriprocessors. Although Neil described the current criminal charges against Agriprocessors for more than 9,000 alleged child labor law violations, penalties won’t be known until the case goes through court next spring.

Just this past week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa unsealed grand jury indictments affecting five members of plant management.