Arizona prison officials are appealing a federal judge's order that placed prison health care under outside control, escalating the legal battle over medical and mental health services in the state's prison system. The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR) has filed a Notice of Appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The appeal challenges the District Court's order to appoint a "receiver" to oversee all health care services in nine state prisons run by ADCRR. This does not include the nearly 10,000 people incarcerated in private prisons for state convictions. The state government has been criticized for running shoddy and callously, with many claiming it has made little improvements since the verdict. The judge's decision to appoint an independent receiver to oversee health and mental care operations in prisons leaves the state with an "exorbitantly expensive, unnecessary" receiver potentially disrupting significant progress made in the prisons.