Kiefer SutherlandKiefer Sutherland has surrendered himself to authorities to start his 48 day jail sentence in Los Angeles after pleading no contest to a DUI charge in October.

Kiefer appeared at the Los Angeles County Courthouse yesterday to request that he could serve his time in the private Glendale City Jail rather than the infamous Twin Towers county facility in LA, where he would have been held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day for his own safety.

Judge Stuart M Rice agreed to the request while formally sentencing the 24 star to the jail time (30 days for the new offence and 18 days for violating a previous probation), along with five year further probation, an 18 month alcohol education program and weekly therapy sessions for six months.

In a statement released by the court, Judge Rice confirmed: “Sutherland will be serving the 48 days in the Glendale City Jail, with no early release and no good time/work time credit, so we expect that he will serve the entire 48 days in jail.”

Shortly after the hearing at 5.30pm, Kiefer surrendered himself to Glendale authorities and was booked into the facility 16 minutes later.

Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams said the actor had been “cooperative” while being process and will be treated “just like anyone else” in the facility: “The fact that he’s a celebrity - he checked that at the door when he checked in.”

Jail spokesperson John Balian added: “Mr Sutherland is very polite and humble. He will be issued an orange jumpsuit, and will be housed alone in a cell, since he’ll be a long-term inmate.”

“[He] will be assigned a work detail that will involve kitchen detail or laundry detail.”

“There is no early release. It’s a must-do 48 days deal. The only person that can shorten the sentence is the judge, and I do not see that ever happening.”

After pleading no contest to the charges in October, Kiefer released a statement expressing his disappointment over “the poor judgement I exhibited recently, and I’m deeply sorry for the disappointment and distress this has caused my family, friends and co-workers on 24 and at 20th Century Fox. I appreciate the support and concern that has been extended to me these last weeks both personally and professionally.”