"The city attorney filed a petition for an order to show cause why the sheriff should not be held in contempt for releasing Ms Hilton, and demanded that she be held in custody," LA Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini said.

Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer issued his order after the city attorney filed a petition questioning whether Sheriff Lee Baca should be held in contempt of court for releasing Paris. The star was sent home to finish her sentence under house arrest.

"What transpired here is outrageous," county Supervisor Don Knabe said.  He said it gave the impression of "celebrity justice being handed out".

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo complained that he learned of her release through news reports.   "It’s the city attorney’s position that the decision on whether or not Ms Hilton should be released early and placed on electronic monitoring should be made by Judge Sauer and not the Sheriff’s Department," said Jeffrey Isaacs of the city attorney’s office.

When Sauer sentenced Paris, he ruled that she couldn’t serve her sentence at home.

Paris to pen prison diary? - June 7 2007
Paris Hilton is reportedly set to pocket a whopping sum of cash while she is in the slammer - for writing a diary during her stay.

The hotel heiress could be set to make over £1 million at the end of her 23-day stay in jail, reports the Daily Star.

The blonde will get £500,000 for her diaries and is at the centre of a bidding war for her first exclusive interview when she comes out.

A source said: "Paris’s jail diary will make a dramatic read. If she can make it believable and not exaggerate too much she can expect to make a fortune.

"And when she gets out it’s the story everyone will want - how the pampered rich girl coped with life behind bars."

The 26-year-old who entered jail on Sunday, is said to be "doing well".

Her lawyer Richard Hutton said: "Her attitude is, ’I’m going to come in here, do my time, get it over with and show the world who I really am."


Paris spends first night in jail - June 5 2007
Paris Hilton was doing well after spending her first night in solitary confinement at a Los Angeles County jail, her lawyer said.

"She’s using this time to reflect on her life, to see what she can do to make the world better and hopefully, in my opinion, to change the attitudes that exist about her among many people," attorney Richard Hutton told reporters after visiting the US hotel heiress .

The 26-year-old checked into the Century Regional Detention Facility in suburban Los Angeles just after 11.30pm on Sunday to serve 23 days for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

Paris surrendered after a surprise appearance earlier that day at the MTV Movie Awards, where she worked the red carpet in a strapless designer gown.

Now in jail-issue clothes, she is being housed in a special unit where she is spending 23 hours a day in a solitary cell, Hutton said.

"If she was an ordinary citizen she would have been placed in the general population ... she’d be living in a dorm with 30, 40, 50 other women and the time would pass pretty quick," Hutton said.

"She is really being punished because of her celebrity."

A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jail, said Paris was easy to work with.