Article 22 Section 5 - Criminal prosecutions and penal actions; offenses; penalties; actions and suits

5. Criminal prosecutions and penal actions; offenses; penalties; actions and suits

Section 5. All criminal prosecutions and penal actions which may have arisen, or which may arise, before the change from a Territorial to a State government, and which shall then be pending, shall be prosecuted to judgment and execution in the name of the State. All offenses committed against the laws of the Territory of Arizona before the change from a Territorial to a State government, and which shall not be prosecuted before such change, may be prosecuted in the name, and by the authority, of the State of Arizona, with like effect as though such change had not taken place, and all penalties incurred and punishments inflicted shall remain the same as if this Constitution had not been adopted. All actions at law and suits in equity, which may be pending in any of the courts, of the Territory of Arizona at the time of the change from a Territorial to a State government, shall be continued and transferred to the court of the State, or of the United States, having jurisdiction thereof.