Lohan wants to stay in rehab for at least 45 days

The troubled actress - who voluntarily began a substance abuse programme at a facility in Southern California on Monday night (27.09.10) - is required to attend a probation violation hearing on October 22, but her legal team are planning to ask for any jail term to be deferred until she completes a full course of treatment.

A source said: "Lindsay is required to be at the hearing. She will be there. She will be escorted by at least one person from the rehab facility to make sure she doesn`t stray. It`s likely that a member of Lindsay`s treatment team will also be called to testify. At that point, if Lindsay is making improvements, Lindsay`s team would ask Judge Fox to not put her in jail at all, or defer her sentence until she is finished with her in-patient treatment.

"Lindsay is still being assessed by her treatment team but the team is saying that she should spend at least 45 days getting in-patient treatment. It`s going to take her body at least 30 days to get the substances out of her system."

The 24-year-old star - who spent just 23 days of a court-ordered 90-day rehab stint at the UCLA Medical Center last month - is said to be serious about overcoming her problems and doctors think a lengthy in-patient stay will be the best course of action.

The source added to RadarOnline.com: "Her body needs to do a lot of healing, and the doctors want to treat her after the remnants of the drug use have left her body. The real work begins after that has occurred, and that is when progress begins to happen."

The ?Machete? actress - who served 13 days of a 90-day jail term behind bars in July - returned to prison last Friday (24.09.10), but ended up spending just a matter of hours behind bars after posting $300,000 bail.

Though the next hearing could see her jailed again for violating the terms of her probation for a 2007 driving under the influence (DUI) conviction, Lindsay?s friends don?t believe the prospect of going back to prison worries the star.

One pal said: "The fact is jail doesn`t scare Lindsay. Before she did her time earlier this summer, she was petrified. Having spent time behind bars, it doesn`t have that effect on her. Jail isn`t a deterrent for her, period."

sections: Celebrities