The 22-year-old actress is planning to plead no contest to a charge of misdemeanor driving under the influence when she's arraigned Thursday in connection with her December bust, a source close to Barton told E! News Monday.

If the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office makes the deal, Barton would avoid jail time, a charge of marijuana possession will be dismissed, and another for driving with an invalid license will be reduced to an infraction.

According to the source, the former O.C. star will get three years of unsupervised probation, attend a three-month alcohol education program and pay a fine.

"That has always been the plan, but we don't know exactly how the deal will go down," the Barton insider said.

A D.A.'s Office spokeswoman declined to comment on the case, but it's expected that prosecutors will sign off on the deal, which is considered a common arrangement for first-time offenders.

Barton was arrested in the early morning hours of Dec. 27 in West Hollywood after officers spotted her SUV straddling two lanes and pulled her over when she failed to signal before making a left turn. She was booked at the nearby sheriff's station and released at 10:10 a.m. the following morning after posting $10,000 bail.

Other stories related to breaking news of Mischa's 3 year probation: MSNBC , Reuters

Im happy that she knows that she's guilty, and she's not going to fight the charges. It's good to see her taking responsibility for her actions.