Retired Judge Riki May Amano is earning $375 an hour and could make as much as $200,000 for acting as Thirty Meter Telescope contested case hearings officer.

Those are some of the facts found in documents released this week by the state in response to a lawsuit filed in Oahu Circuit Court last month.

Aaron Wills, a consultant hired by Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa to obtain the records, filed the suit in June, alleging the state was not producing the public documents within the required 20 business days.

Among the records released this week were Amano’s contract and other documents pertaining to the hearings officer selection process.

In March the state selected the former Hawaii island circuit judge to oversee the contested case hearing following a statewide search.

The hearing is a replay of the 2011 proceeding that was ordered anew by the state Supreme Court in December. The high court had ruled that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources violated the state Constitution when it approved the $1.4 billion project’s conservation district use permit before holding a contested case hearing.

According to an employment contract dated March 31, Amano has until June 30, 2017, to complete the hearing, although there are two options to extend the hearing by six months each.

In her application, Amano pledged to serve “with strict impartiality.” She also said that, “based on what I can glean from the news media, I do not believe I have a conflict of interest or that there would be any appearance of conflict,” but she added: “I will adhere to my ongoing duty to disclose any information regarding any possible conflict of interest as the case or cases proceed.”

After Amano was publicly announced as the hearings officer, the Mauna Kea Hui petitioners formally objected, pointing out that she was a member of the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, which is part of the University of Hawaii-Hilo, the project’s applicant, giving her an appearance of bias. Amano then submitted a formal disclosure of that fact.

The state ultimately denied the objections — even after both the university and TMT agreed that Amano should be disqualified to avoid another possible Supreme Court setback.

In her application, Amano admitted to not having “specific knowledge” of the Hawaii Revised Statutes and Hawaii Administrative Rules administered by the Department of Land and Natural Resources “but I am willing to research and learn.”

Amano, who currently officiates mediation and arbitration proceedings, noted that her billable rate is $400 an hour but “I am willing to discuss my pay rate with the department.”

The search resulted in seven qualified candidates. Of those, the top three were ranked in order. Amano was No. 1, followed by No. 2 Diana L. Van De Car, a per diem family court judge from Volcano, and No. 3 Mario Ramil, a former associate justice of the state Supreme Court who served from 1993 to 2002.

In a statement released Wednesday, Kawananakoa said the newly disclosed documents offer evidence that state officials are working “an ill-conceived plan” to ensure the TMT International Observatory Board gets its permit.

“With the governor’s concurrence, DLNR and UH have manipulated the process,” she said.

James Wright, Kawananakoa’s attorney, called Amano’s compensation outrageous — especially considering she was denied reappointment to the Circuit Court by the state Judicial Selection Commission in 2003.

What’s more, with Amano getting the nod over a former Supreme Court justice, the state is clearly trying to manipulate the process, Wright said.

“The state is desperate to keep Amano no matter what,” he said. “Why? DLNR and UH want a sure thing — not a fair process.”

Joshua Wisch, special assistant to state Attorney General Doug Chin, said the process was fair, with the department’s selection committee making its decisions based on the criteria set forth in the procurement notice.

Meanwhile, Richard Naiwieha Wurdeman, attorney for the Mauna Kea Hui petitioners, said Wednesday that the state still has not turned over all the records he requested as far back as April 1.