How long can someone stay in County before being transferred if the judge stated 3 years must be served in the penitentiary? Can inmate get work release on a split sentence?

The time spent in county definitely counts towards the imposed sentence regardless if it is classified as a penitentiary or not. The transfer time has to do with bed space and the transfer unit's schedule for that area. If your inmate goes without incident reports and is considered a model inmate, they will consider him for work release near the end of the sentence, sometimes as a re-entry vehicle.