Two governors have scuttled four recommendations by the pardon board to release him.
The pardon board determines how long a convict serves if the sentence is not fixed.
The pardon board, which held a hearing on the case in October, has set a meeting for Thursday to announce its decision.
Of the 18 people executed, 15 had asked the Pardon Board for clemency.
The pardon board recommended clemency four times, he said, but governors rejected each recommendation.
Word comes from the pardon board; De Rocher has not been granted his wish.
The Pardon Board has recommended a commutation of a death sentence only once in recent years.
Most recently it inspired petitions to the Pardon Board with more than 12,000 signatures.
In 2012, Powell was reappointed to the pardon board, a part-time position that pays $36,000 annually.
Earlier, the state's pardon board announced that it had voted unanimously to recommend against any clemency in the case.
