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                                  EXHIBIT 31.1
                                  CERTIFICATION

I, J. William Stapleton, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating
Officer of Home City Financial Corporation, certify, that:

1.    I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-QSB of Home City
      Financial Corporation;

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

4.    The small business issuer's other certifying officers 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 quarterly report is being prepared;

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

November 12, 2004                  /s/ J. William Stapleton
                                   --------------------------------------
                                   J. William Stapleton, President, Chief
                                   Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer

A signed original of this written statement required by Section 906 has been
provided to Home City Financial Corporation and will be retained by Home City
Financial Corporation and furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission or
its staff upon request.

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