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The judge overseeing Lindsay Lohan's criminal case ordered the actress to return to court Thursday so she could review Lohan's progress on meeting her probation requirements.
Lohan's legal woes, which began four years ago with two drunk driving arrests, have been compounded over the past two years by her failure to attend counseling classes and alcohol and drug test failures.
She's stayed busy working at a women's center in Los Angeles' Skid Row section since she was released from house arrest three weeks ago, a requirement of her probation for a shoplifting conviction.
A court spokeswoman said it was not clear why Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Saunter ordered Lohan to personally appear before her Thursday, since misdemeanor probationers don't usually have to attend such hearings.
Lohan, 25, has apparently made good progress toward completing the 480 hours of community service Saunter imposed after she entered a guilty plea to stealing a necklace from a Venice, California, jewelry store, the court spokeswoman said.
She must work 120 hours at the Los Angeles County morgue after she completes 360 hours at the women's center. The judge gave Lohan a year to complete the community service.
The 120-day jail sentence the actress also received translated into just 35 days of home confinement that ended June 29. Jail overcrowding rules and state rules that give credit for good behavior for prisoners allowed for the shortened term.
"I am not happy about house arrest," Saunter said during a hearing last month. "It was not my sentence."
Her probation is scheduled to end within a year, unless Lohan is charged with breaking any laws before then. It has been extended several times because of probation violations, including failed alcohol and drug tests.
Lohan failed an alcohol test administered by a probation officer in June and was ordered to go before the judge for a probation violation hearing the following week. But Lohan's attorney convinced the judge the testing requirement had lapsed in February.
Saunter ruled that Lohan is now allowed to drink alcohol and she is no longer required to take random drug tests.
The actress has managed to avoid spending more than just a few days in jail despite two drunken-driving convictions, a long list of probation violations and the recent theft conviction.
"Because of budget constraints and because we're under a federal consent decree that requires us to curb our overcrowding situation, nonviolent offenders, lesser crimes, get 20% of their sentence," Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
Lohan entered drug rehab last year to avoid a jail sentence imposed by another judge. But Saunter made it clear in court last month that she didn't think drugs and alcohol were the root of Lohan's legal troubles.
"She's got other problems for which she self-medicates," Saunter said at her sentencing in May.
Lohan's four years in and out of court -- and sometimes jail -- started with the two drunken-driving arrests in 2007. Since then, she's spent more than eight months in substance-abuse rehabilitation programs.
A probation report released in May said the actress "appears to be continuing to struggle with substance abuse issues."
"It would appear that the defendant's criminal conduct is increasing in seriousness and severity," the probation report said, yet it suggested she serve her sentence on probation and not in jail.
Lohan tested positive for alcohol use, a violation of probation rules, in February, the report said.
It also revealed that the drug test failure last August, which resulted in a jail sentence and court-ordered rehab, involved cocaine and amphetamines.
Source: CNN