(a)      The inhabitants of any county adopting a charter or form of government under the provisions of Article XI-A of the Constitution of the State by virtue of such adoption shall have perpetual succession; may sue and be sued; may purchase or otherwise acquire and hold real, personal and mixed property, either absolutely or in trust for any public purpose; may dispose of the same subject to the limitations herein provided, if not contrary to the terms of any trust; may have, use and alter at pleasure a common seal; and may pass and adopt all ordinances, resolutions or bylaws necessary or proper to exercise the powers herein granted.

      (b)      All property and franchises of every kind belonging to or in the possession of the board of commissioners of the county and any of its agencies, shall, immediately upon the adoption of a charter, be vested in the said county, as a corporation. And no action against the county commissioners of any county adopting the charter shall abate, but shall be continued in the name of the county with the same effect as if originally so brought or begun; and all subsisting liabilities, obligations, contracts, claims and demands at law or in equity, accrued or to accrue, of said county commissioners or in its favor, shall without further formality be and become the liabilities, obligations, contracts, claims and demands of such commissioners and county council of the county adopting a charter under said Article XI-A, and no criminal action, prosecution or indictment shall be affected by the adoption of a charter as aforesaid, but shall be prosecuted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offense.