LUCASVILLE (AP) — Death penalty opponents have begun a walk from the Ohio prison where inmates are executed to the Statehouse as part of a capital punishment protest.

The seven-day, 83-mile walk started Sunday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville and will end in Columbus.

The walk is sponsored by Ohioans to Stop Executions and other groups. They plan to finish the protest in Columbus on this coming Saturday, the annual World Day Against the Death Penalty.

Death penalty opponents speaking to participants along the way include Terry Collins, the former director of the Ohio prisons system who witnessed more than 30 executions and now opposes capital punishment.

Two dozen Ohio inmates have execution dates but the state currently lacks the drugs to put them to death.