A federal judge has ordered a takeover of health care operations in Arizona’s prisons and will appoint an official to run the system after years of complaints about poor medical and mental health care.

Lawyers for 25,000 people incarcerated in Arizona have asked a judge to take over health care operations in state-run prisons and appoint an official to run them.

A federal judge presiding over a lawsuit challenging the quality of health care in Arizona’s prisons is considering whether to launch a third contempt-of-court proceeding against the state for failing to improve prisoner care.