DARLINGTON COUNTY BANCSHARES, INC.
                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

I, HENRY M. FUNDERBURK, CERTIFY THAT:

1.     I have reviewed  this annual  report on Form 10-KSB of Darlington  County
       Bancshares, Inc.;

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;

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 small business  issuer as of, and for, the periods  presented in this
       report;

4.     The  small  business  issuer's  other  certifying  officer(s)  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)) for
       the small business issuer and have:

        (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 small  business
        issuer, 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;

        (b)  Evaluated  the   effectiveness  of  the  small  business   issuer'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

        (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the small  business  issuer's
        internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the small
        business  issuer's  most  recent  fiscal  quarter  (the  small  business
        issuer's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
        materially  affected,  or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
        small business issuer's internal control over financial reporting; and

5.       The small  business  issuer's  other  certifying  officer(s) and I have
         disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
         financial  reporting,  to the small business  issuer's auditors and the
         audit  committee of small  business  issuer's  board of  directors  (or
         persons performing the equivalent functions):

         (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 small  business  issuer's
         ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information;
         and

         (b) Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that  involves  management or
         other  employees  who have a  significant  role in the  small  business
         issuer's internal control over financial reporting.


Date:    March 24, 2004                By:   /s/ Henry M. Funderburk
                                            --------------------------------
                                            Henry M. Funderburk, President and
                                            Chief Executive Officer