Appeals court blocks start of takeover of healthcare operations in
Arizona prisons
[October 20, 2026]
PHOENIX (AP) — A federal appeals court has put on hold a
court-ordered takeover of healthcare operations in Arizona’s prisons
that was scheduled to start Monday.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order late Friday blocking
the start date as Arizona corrections officials are appealing the
takeover, also known as a receivership.
The court said letting the takeover start risks irreparable harm to the
state if it wins the appeal and that the case raises questions about a
federal judge’s authority over state prisons.
The court, however, said a receiver — an outside corrections
professional hired to run healthcare operations — can still start
operational planning for the takeover. But Monday’s scheduled transfer
of the healthcare system’s management has been called off.
“While the state continues to pull every lever to delay accountability,
we remain focused on the underlying crisis and will continue fighting to
ensure that people in prison are not needlessly suffering and dying
because of the state’s failures,” said Corene Kendrick, an American
Civil Liberties Union attorney representing prisoners in the case.
Over the past 14 years, Arizona has been dogged by complaints that its
prison healthcare system was run shoddily and callously and that it
repeatedly failed to improve a system found to have exposed prisoners to
harm and preventable deaths.
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 Earlier this year, U.S. District
Judge Roslyn Silver ordered the takeover after concluding the state
hadn’t complied with court-ordered changes or the requirements of
the U.S. Constitution after more than a decade of litigation. Silver
found prisoners remained exposed to grave threats of harm and
suffering because of systematic deficiencies in their healthcare.
Attorneys for the state said Silver adopted a drastic takeover
remedy without first trying intermediate fixes to speed compliance
and hadn’t given the corrections department enough time to make more
progress.
In a statement, the Arizona Department of Corrections,
Rehabilitation and Reentry said it remains committed to improving
healthcare inside its prisons.
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