|Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATIONS

I, Dwight O. Seegmiller, certify
that:

1. I have reviewed this
quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Hills Bancorporation;

2. Based on my knowledge,
this quarterly report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact
or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light
of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with
respect to the period covered by this quarterly report;

3. Based on my knowledge,
the financial statements, and other financial information included in this
quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects the financial
condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and
for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;

4. The registrants
other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining
disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and
15d-14) for the registrant and we have:

a)
designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that material
information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries,
is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

b)
evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and
procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of this
quarterly report (the Evaluation Date); and

c)
presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the effectiveness of
the disclosure controls and procedures based on our evaluation as of the
Evaluation Date;

5. The registrants
other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our most recent
evaluation, to the registrants auditors and the audit committee of
registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
function):

a)
all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal controls
which could adversely affect the registrants ability to record, process,
summarize and report financial data and have identified for the
registrants auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls; and

b)
any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees
who have a significant role in the registrants internal controls; and

6. The registrants
other certifying officers and I have indicated in this quarterly report whether
or not there were significant changes in internal controls or in other factors
that could significantly affect internal controls subsequent to the date of our
most recent evaluation, including any corrective actions with regard to
significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.
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|Date | 8/12/2003 | By |  | /s/
      Dwight O. Seegmiller       
|---- | --------- | -- |  | -------------------------------------
|     |           |    |  |                                      
|     |           |    |  | Dwight
      O. Seegmiller, President

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