Mr. Pepin recently retired from his position as Director of the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), a position he held for 19 years. As Director he managed over 200 AOC employees and 2,000 court employees statewide in areas including human resources/personnel management, budgets and finance, language access, legislative initiatives, judicial and employee training, public information, technology, and court management.
He recently received the Kenneth P. Palmer Distinguished Service Award from the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) during a ceremony at its annual meeting in Maine. In 2022, Pepin received an award from the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies for his work to improve New Mexico's pretrial justice system. The National Center for State Courts selected Pepin in 2014 for its Warren E. Burger Award for Excellence in Judicial Administration. He served as President of COSCA and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Center for State Courts in 2016-2017.
During Pepin's tenure, courts implemented a statewide electronic case management system, instituted electronic filing of documents in civil and criminal cases, implemented evidence-based practices for decisions about people awaiting trial on criminal charges, and received the top ranking in the nation in 2021 for language assistance including interpreters, to people with limited English proficiency, low literacy and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Pepin also led a commission that developed initiatives to speed up the resolution of felony cases in Bernalillo County and relieve jail overcrowding.
He remains an ardent advocate for state courts.