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| **Exhibit                    31**

**CERTIFICATIONS**

I, Dwight O. Seegmiller,                    certify that: |
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| 1.     | I have                reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Hills Bancorporation;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
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| 2.     | Based on my                knowledge, this 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 report;                                                |
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| 3.     | Based on my                knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in                this 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 report;                                                                   |
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| 4.     | The                registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing                and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act                Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as                defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and                have: |
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|   |  (a) | Designed such                disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and                procedures to be designed under our supervision, 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 report is being prepared;                                  |
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|   | (b)       | Designed such                internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over                financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable                assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of                financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted                accounting principles;                                         |
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|   | (c)       | Evaluated the                effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and                presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure                controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based                on such evaluation; and                                                                                                                                      |
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|   | (d)       | Disclosed in                this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial                reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter                (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that                has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the                registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and |
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| 5. | The                registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most                recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the                registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board                of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
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|   | (a)    | All                significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of                internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely                affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report                financial information; and |
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|   | (b)    | Any fraud,                whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a                significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial                reporting.                                                                                                               |
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| Date:                11/6/07 | By: /s/ Dwight O.                Seegmiller                                          |
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|                         | Dwight O. Seegmiller,                Director, President and Chief Executive Officer |

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