Facing a lawsuit that could cost them more than $300 million in compensatory damages, Lawrence resident Bob Honse and 28 other former leaders of Farmland Industries are going to court to get the insurance protection they say they’re owed.

Honse, the former Farmland chief executive officer, is among the bankrupt cooperative’s former officers and directors seeking advances on their legal bills.

The former Farmland leaders filed suit last month in Douglas County District Court, seeking a judgment that would force three insurance companies – Federal Insurance Co., Gulf Insurance Co. and St. Paul Cos. – to start paying on polices taken out by Farmland on the leaders’ behalf.

The policies, taken together, provide up to $30 million in coverage for the leaders in the case of “loss,” including costs of mounting defenses against charges of wrongdoing.

“Despite demand and without basis or just cause, defendants have refused to acknowledge coverage under the policies and breached their contract obligations to advance legal fees and costs to plaintiffs,” the leaders argue in their lawsuit.

Honse and his attorney, Cal Karlin, declined to comment. Several former board members also declined comment.

The leaders are being sued in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Kansas City, Kan., for breach of fiduciary duty, gross negligence and corporate waste in connection with a series of corporate decisions that preceded Farmland’s bankruptcy filing in 2002.

J.P. Morgan Trust Co., Farmland’s liquidating trustee, filed suit against the former Farmland leaders in January. Specifically mentioned are the Farmland board’s 1997 decision to build a fertilizer and refinery complex in Coffeyville for more than $300 million, assumption of “catastrophic debt” and granting of a $700,000 “sweetheart” bonus to then-CEO Harry Cleberg in 2000.

The 2002 bankruptcy filing – coming as Farmland crumpled under $1.9 billion in debt, a sagging fertilizer market and panicked creditors – led to the demise of the largest farmer-owned cooperative in North America. In 2001 the Kansas City, Mo.-based co-op had more than 600,000 members, 14,000 employees and $11.8 billion in revenue.

The co-op has sold its major business assets, including its pork, beef and fertilizer businesses. Lawrence and Douglas County commissioners are studying whether to make an offer to purchase the former Farmland fertilizer plant at the southeastern edge of Lawrence, a 467-acre site that could be turned into a business park and public open space.

The former Farmland leaders are asking Judge Michael Malone to rule that they are entitled to “immediate coverage” under the policies for “all fees and costs incurred” in connection with their defense in the suit brought by J.P. Morgan.

The former leaders’ attorneys are awaiting formal responses to the lawsuit from Federal and Gulf insurance companies. No court hearings have been set.

“It’s our policy not to comment on any pending litigation or claim,” said Mark Schussel, a spokesman for The Grubb Cos., Federal’s parent company in Warren, N.J.

The lawsuit against the former Farmland leaders seeks compensatory damages of more than $300 million, plus punitive damages, said M. Catherine Powell of St. Paul, in a letter responding to the former leaders’ suit.

St. Paul will not respond to any claim on its $7.5 million policy until the $22.5 million of coverage provided by the other two underlying policies has been exhausted, Powell said in her letter.