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Exhibit 99.1

                   CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
          Pursuant to section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
              Chapter 63, Title 18 USC Section 1350 (A) and (B)

I, Leslie A. Barr, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on 10Q of Highlands Bankshares, 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 registrant
as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant'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 registrant 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
      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;

      (b) 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

      (c) 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

5. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) 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):

      (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

      (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.


Date:  August 13, 2003
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                                          /s/ LESLIE A. BARR
                                          -------------------------
                                          Leslie A. Barr, President