P.

Defendant Antoine J. McCullough pleaded no contest to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm (Pen. Code, former § 12021, subd. (a)(1)) and admitted a prior prison term allegation (id., § 667.5, subd. (b)). The court imposed the stipulated state prison sentence of four years. It also ordered defendant to pay a $270.17 jail booking fee (booking fee).

Defendant claims the statute authorizing the court to impose a booking fee required the court to determine if he was able to pay it. (See Gov. Code, § 29550.2, subd. (a) [“If the person has the ability to pay, a judgment of conviction shall contain an order for payment of the amount of the criminal justice administration [booking] fee by the convicted person . . . .”].) Defendant contends that he is entitled to challenge this fee order for sufficiency of the evidence for the first time on appeal. We granted review to determine whether a defendant who failed to object that the evidence was insufficient to support a finding of his ability to pay a booking fee when the court imposed it has forfeited his right to challenge the fee on appeal. For the reasons stated below, we conclude that a defendant who fails to…