Lindsay Lohan out of jail after making $300,000 bail

Lindsay Lohan was freed from a suburban Los Angeles jail late Friday night, well short of the nearly monthlong stay a judge had intended for the actress following a failed drug test.

Lohan was released at about 11:40 p.m. after posting $300,000 bail, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said early Saturday.

Celebrity website TMZ.com reported her release just before midnight.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg set that amount Friday evening. Schnegg imposed several restrictions on Lohan's release, including that she must wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet, the AP reported.

Earlier in the day, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox had denied bail and ordered that Lohan, 24, remain in custody until her next hearing, scheduled for Oct. 22.

Lohan had violated the terms of her probation by failing two random, court-ordered drug tests, the first showing cocaine in her system, the second showing an amphetamine, according to TMZ.com.

Fox - who had allowed the "Mean Girls" star to cut short her time in inpatient rehab for substance abuse, only to have her fail a drug test two weeks later - employed a judicial tactic that is "an increasingly common practice among judges in L.A.," defense attorney Mark Geragos told FoxNews.com.

SEE PHOTOSLindsay Lohan in court

If the judge had imposed "a particular time such as 60 or 90 days, the sheriff would have kicked her out after a few days due to prison overcrowding," he said.

Lohan's mother and manager, Dina Lohan, attended the hearing, as did her estranged father, Michael Lohan. A family representative Friday afternoon told Newsday she had not had contact with Dina Lohan yet.

Michael Lohan, who did not immediately return a call for comment, told reporters outside the courthouse that defense attorney Shawn Chapman Holley and others were responsible for his daughter's return to jail, saying he has long urged intensive inpatient treatment.