SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Actor Kiefer Sutherland was released on Monday from a Southern California jail, where he served 48 days for drunken driving and violating probation.

The 41-year-old actor left the Glendale City Jail shortly after midnight and was a model inmate, Glendale Police Officer John Balian said.

"He never gave us any problems, never complained about anything," Balian said, adding that Sutherland spent most of his time on laundry duty.

The star of the hit TV series "24" was arrested for drunken driving in September, while still on probation for a 2004 drunken-driving conviction.

He pleaded no contest in a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to serve his sentence without disrupting the show.

He must also serve five years probation, complete an 18-month alcohol education program and attend six months of weekly therapy sessions.

Sutherland, son of screen star Donald Sutherland, won an Emmy Award last year for starring as the terrorist-fighting secret agent Jack Bauer.

The show averaged 13.5 million viewers last year and returns this month for its seventh season on Fox.

(Reporting by Amanda Beck; Editing by Eric Beech)
© Copyright 2007 Reuters.