Lohan was taken into custody in the courtroom. A sheriff's deputy escorted her from the courtroom, but Lohan was not handcuffed.
Lohan's attorney, Shawn Holley, filed a notice to appeal.
Lohan was sentenced to jail on the second count against her for violating terms of probation. On the fifth count against her, she was given 480 hours of community service; 360 hours were to be served at the Downtown Women's Center in L.A., and 120 hours were to be served at the L.A. County Morgue.
Lohan was taken to Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood Friday afternoon. She was released at 9:21 p.m. Friday.
Earlier Friday, the judge reduced Lohan's felony charge to a misdemeanor in the theft case over a necklace.
The court's clerk office was closed as the order was given. Lohan will have to be bailed out from jail. This is Lohan's fourth stay in jail.
Holley's notice of appeal was filed, and bail was set at $75,000. The bail on a misdemeanor charge was to ensure Lohan will return to court. Ten percent of the bond is usually required paid to release someone.
The prosecutor asked for bail to be set at $350,000.
A mob of cameras and reporters greeted Lohan as she arrived at court in Del Aire. The crowd even included one reporter dressed as a Lindsay lookalike.
The judge had offered the 24-year-old a choice between making a deal with prosecutors or going to trial, and Lohan had opted to go to trial.
The actress is accused of taking a necklace from a Venice jeweler, Kamofie & Co., while she was on probation for a DUI conviction from 2007.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner refused to dismiss the case against Lohan, but said she often sees more serious cases that get reduced to misdemeanors. The court denied the D.A.'s request to stay the order.
In making her ruling, the judge said, "I'm going to give her an opportunity."
The misdemeanor has a potential penalty of a year in jail. Lohan pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor.
The key part of the case was the value of the necklace. The jeweler maintains that it is worth $2,500, but Lohan attorney Holley says it's only worth $900, which would make the case a misdemeanor instead of a felony.
During the hearing, Sofia Kaman, owner of Kamofie & Co., said she bought the necklace for $850, but the standard markup is three times the value of the item.
Lohan has been jailed three times before, but has been released early due to jail overcrowding.
In the meantime, Lohan is still finding work as an actress. Fiore Films announced on Wednesday that Lohan had been cast as the mob wife of John Gotti Jr. in "Teflon Don."
"I'm really excited to be back on set and clear up all the misinterpretations about me and show this is what I love to do," Lohan said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
