TAMMS: MARCH 17 EXECUTION SET AT NEW PENITENTIARY

TAMMS, Ill. -- An execution date has been set by the Illinois Supreme Court for Andrew Kokoraleis, who was convicted of murder in DuPage County in 1984. The execution is to take place at Tamms Correctional Center.

Kokoraleis has been scheduled for execution twice before but received reprieves. A March 17 execution was set earlier this month.

Kokoraleis would become the first man to be executed at the Tamms super-maximum-security prison. Two previous executions were scheduled at the prison, which opened in 1998, but they were canceled after Willie Enoch and Anthony Porter both received reprieves.

The Illinois Supreme Court stayed Porter's execution Sept. 22, after prosecutors said he deserved a hearing to determine whether he was mentally fit enough to receive lethal injection. They said Porter's IQ was 51.

Porter was released from prison two weeks ago when a man confessed to the killings of the two people Porter had been charged with murdering in 1982. Alstory Simon of Milwaukee, Wis., made the videotape confession, and Porter was released on a $10,000 recognizance bond.

Following Porter's release, Illinois death penalty opponents renewed efforts to postpone pending executions and place a moratorium on them.

Illinois Gov. George Ryan told The Associated Press that he supports the death penalty. He said, however, he would support a review of the death penalty process, not a moratorium.

The Tamms prison is the new site for executions in Illinois. The prison has a specially designed death chamber but does not include a death row.

Inmates awaiting death are housed at Menard and Pontiac correctional centers, both maximum-security prisons, until a couple of days before their executions and are then moved to Tamms. The Tamms prison includes special rooms for family, friends and attorneys.

The method of execution is by chemical injection with lethal drugs.

Illinois prisoners were previously executed at Stateville Corrections Center near Joliet.

Tamms prison officials are prepared for the execution. They underwent training and procedures for the Porter execution.

With no death row, Kokoraleis will be placed in a holding cell 30 feet from the death chamber when he is brought to Tamms. He will be moved to the holding cell, and a table will be placed outside so that family and lawyers can visit with him. He won't get to touch anyone other than corrections workers before the execution.