A court-appointed panel yesterday selected three finalists for an opening on the Kamehameha School's board of trustees.

In a filing in state Probate Court, the seven-member trustee selection committee named local attorney Allen Hoe, First Hawaiian Bank Senior Vice President Corbett Kalama and former city budget director Ivan Lui-Kwan as its top candidates to replace Constance Lau, chief executive officer of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.

Lau, who has served on Kamehameha School's board since 1999, announced that she would step down as a trustee when she became HEI's CEO in May. She agreed to remain on the board until her successor was named.

Probate Judge Colleen Hirai will select Lau's replacement from the list after a public comment period. The deadline for the public to submit letters is Dec. 4.

Lau's replacement will serve the remainder of her five-year term, which expires on June 30, 2008. The appointee could qualify for reappointment for a maximum of two five-year terms.

For the year ending June 30, 2005, the estate paid its trustees about $100,000 each, while board chairwoman Diane Plotts earned $110,500.

Before 1999, when the estate implemented wide-ranging governance reforms, board members earned as much as $1 million each.

Established by the 1884 will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the Kamehameha Schools is the state's largest private landowner and one of the nation's largest charitable institutions.

The selection committee includes former Honolulu police chief Francis Keala; Hawaiian Electric Co. executive Robbie Alm; the trust's former court-appointed master Ben Matsubara; Kamehameha Schools alum Michael Rawlins; attorney Melody MacKenzie; Queen Li-li'uokalani Children's Center president Claire Asam; and George "Keoki" Freeland, executive director of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.