How to Fill Out the California Prohibited Persons Relinquishment Form (BOF 1022)

The BOF 1022 form is California’s Prohibited Persons Relinquishment Form, used to verify that a person convicted of a firearm-prohibiting offense has given up every firearm they own or control. You get the form from the court at the time of conviction, and you have either 48 hours or 14 days — depending on whether you leave the courtroom in custody — to relinquish your firearms and submit the completed paperwork, with receipts, to your assigned probation officer.¹

Your Deadline Depends on Custody Status

The clock starts running the moment of conviction. There is no separate longer window for paperwork; the physical transfer of firearms, the completed form, and the receipts all have to reach the probation officer inside the same deadline.

Out of custody: 48 hours from conviction to hand over the firearms and file the completed BOF 1022 with receipts.¹
In custody: 14 days from conviction. Your designee handles the physical handoff, and either you or the designee files the form and receipts within that window.¹
Released partway through: If you’re released before the 14 days are up and your designee hasn’t yet taken possession, you have 5 days after release to finish.²

If you don’t own any firearms, you still file the form within the same deadline, signed to declare you have nothing to relinquish.

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull everything together before you sit down with the form. The current version is dated January 2026 and is available from the California Courts website; the court also hands it to you at sentencing.

Your full legal name, date of birth, and California driver license or ID number (the form asks specifically for this, not a court-assigned number).
For each firearm you own or control: type (handgun, rifle, shotgun), make, model, caliber, serial number, color, barrel length, category (semi-automatic, bolt action, and so on), and current location. If a firearm has no serial number or the number is unknown, say so on the form rather than leaving the field blank.²
The name and contact information of the designee who will physically handle your firearms. This can be a local law enforcement agency or any consenting adult who is not themselves prohibited from possessing firearms.¹
The name and address of the law enforcement agency or licensed dealer where the firearms will end up.

If you own more firearms than fit on the main form, you’ll also need BOF 1023, the Prohibited Person Supplemental Form, attached to your BOF 1022 before filing.²

Filling Out the Form Section by Section

The form is organized into lettered sections. Which ones you complete depends on whether you actually possess any firearms.

Section A: Personal Information

Everyone completes Section A. Enter your full legal name, date of birth, California driver license or ID number, and the court case number. This section also contains a statement acknowledging that you understand you are prohibited from owning, purchasing, or possessing any firearms, ammunition, body armor, or ammunition feeding devices, and that violating the prohibition carries criminal penalties.²

Section B: No Firearms Declaration

If you don’t own, possess, or have custody or control of any firearms, including unfinished frames or receivers, sign and date Section B. That’s it. You don’t need to complete any other section. Submit the form to your probation officer within the same deadline and keep a copy for yourself.²

Firearm Information

If you do own firearms, fill out the firearm fields for each one: type, serial number, make, model, caliber, color, barrel length, and category. Describe the current location of each firearm in enough detail that your designee or law enforcement can find it. Additional firearms go on the attached BOF 1023.²

Designee and Power of Attorney

The form has a built-in power of attorney. You name your designee, either a law enforcement agency or a consenting adult who can legally possess firearms, and grant them authority to take possession of your firearms and transfer them. The designee signs the form, acknowledging their obligation to complete the transfer inside the statutory deadline and file the form and receipts with your probation officer.¹

A different document, the General Notice of Firearm Prohibition and Power of Attorney for Firearms Relinquishment, Sale, or Transfer for Storage, exists for people who become prohibited outside the BOF 1022 process. For criminal convictions under Penal Code 29810, though, the power of attorney built into the BOF 1022 is the one you use.³

How the Firearms Actually Leave Your Possession

Your designee has three options for disposing of the firearms, and you pick one on the form. Each has different practical and financial consequences.

Surrender to Law Enforcement

Your designee turns the firearms over to a local law enforcement agency, which then stores or eventually destroys them. Call the agency first, because most have specific intake procedures. Firearms should be unloaded and locked in a secure container for transport, with ammunition separate, and left in the vehicle until an officer gives further instructions.⁴ This route is the simplest, but you won’t get the firearms back or receive any money for them.

Sale to a Licensed Dealer

Your designee can sell the firearms to a licensed dealer outright or on consignment. Consignment lets the dealer sell to a third-party buyer, with you receiving the proceeds minus the dealer’s cut. Consignment fees typically run between 10% and 25% of the sale price, though this varies. The designee handles the transaction; you cannot be present or involved in the sale.

Storage With a Licensed Dealer

If your prohibition has a defined end date, such as a 10-year misdemeanor ban, you can have the firearms transferred to a licensed dealer for storage until the ban expires. The dealer can charge a reasonable storage fee, and monthly rates typically run from around $20 to well over $100 depending on the dealer and the number of firearms.⁵ When the ban ends, the dealer returns the firearms through the standard dealer transfer process, and the dealer must also notify the Department of Justice when they take possession for storage. A lifetime prohibition, such as for most felony convictions, has no expiration, so storage isn’t a practical option in those cases.

Where the Completed Form Goes

Once the firearms have been transferred and you or your designee have receipts from the receiving agency or dealer, the completed BOF 1022, with receipts attached, goes to your assigned probation officer. Not the court clerk. The statute is specific: the probation officer is the designated recipient.²

The probation officer then verifies that the Department of Justice’s Automated Firearms System has been updated to reflect the relinquishment.¹ Keep a personal copy of everything you file, including the signed form, every receipt, and any acknowledgment from probation. That’s your proof of compliance if questions come up later.

If you signed Section B declaring no firearms, the form still goes to the probation officer inside the same 48-hour or 14-day window.¹

If Anyone You Live With Owns a Gun

The form itself flags this, and it catches people off guard. If a cohabitant owns firearms, those firearms have to be stored in compliance with Penal Code 25135, meaning in a locked container or secured with a locking device so you cannot access them. A cohabitant who fails to store their firearms properly, or who otherwise lets you access a gun, faces criminal penalties of their own.²

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

The paperwork penalty is the smallest piece. Filing the form late is an infraction punishable by a fine of up to $100.¹ The real exposure is that keeping a firearm after a prohibiting conviction is a separate criminal offense. Under Penal Code 29800, a felon in possession of a firearm commits another felony.⁶ Under Penal Code 29825, possessing a firearm while subject to a qualifying restraining order carries up to a year in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.⁷

A court can also hold you in contempt for violating its relinquishment order. Contempt carries a fine of up to $1,000, up to five days in county jail, or both, for each violation.⁸ California’s Armed and Prohibited Persons System cross-references firearm registration records against prohibited person databases, so the Department of Justice generally knows when a newly prohibited person has registered firearms and no relinquishment on file.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 29810
2
California Department of Justice. BOF 1022 Prohibited Persons Relinquishment Form
3
California Department of Justice. General Notice of Firearm Prohibition and Power of Attorney for Firearms Relinquishment, Sale, or Transfer for Storage
4
Office of the Sheriff, County of Santa Clara. Turn in Your Firearms Voluntarily
5
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 29830
6
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 29800
7
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 29825
8
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1218 – Contempt, Penalty, Excuse