The Penal Code

This act establishes a state's general criminal law, defining the offenses punishable by the state and setting out the principles by which criminal liability is determined. It sets the code's stated purposes and its relationship to other law, fixes the geographic reach of the state's authority to prosecute, supplies the definitions and rules of construction that govern how its provisions are read, and addresses how age is calculated for purposes of criminal responsibility. It also addresses the interaction between state and other criminal authority, including the extent to which the code displaces other sources of criminal prohibition, where prosecuting authority is shared, and the state's posture toward enforcing certain federal firearms regulations.

Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.