**Exhibit 31**

 

**Certification Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350 as AdoptedPursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002**

 

We,James E. Young, Chief Executive Officer and Samuel J. Cox, Chief FinancialOfficer, certify that:

 

1.                                       We have reviewed this quarterly report ofCitizens Bancshares Corporation on Form 10-Q for the quarterlyperiod ended June 30, 2005;

 

2.                                       Based on our knowledge, this quarterly reportdoes not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state amaterial fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of thecircumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading withrespect to the period covered by this quarterly report;

 

3.                                       Based on our knowledge, the financialstatements, and other financial information included in this quarterly report,fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results ofoperations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periodspresented in this quarterly report;

 

4.                                       We are responsible for establishing andmaintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15and 15d-14) for the registrant and we have:

 

a)                                      designed such disclosure controls andprocedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designedunder our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to theregistrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us byothers within those entities, particularly during the period in which thisquarterly report is being prepared;

 

c)                                      evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’sdisclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusionsabout the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures as of the endof the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

 

d)                                     disclosed in thisreport any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reportingthat occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (theregistrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that hasmaterially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, theregistrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

 

5.                                       We have disclosed, based on our most recentevaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’sauditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (orpersons performing the equivalent functions):

 

a)                                      all significant deficiencies and materialweaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls over financialreporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’sability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

 

b)                                     any fraud, whether or not material, thatinvolves management or other employees who have a significant role in theregistrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

 

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| Date:  | August 12, 2005 |                                               | By:    | /s/ James E. Young |   |
|--------|----------------------|----------------------------------------------------|--------|--------------------|--------|
|   |                 | James E. Young                                     |
|   |                 | President and Chief Executive Officer              |
|   |                 |                                               |
|   |                 |                                               |   |
| Date:  | August 12, 2005 |                                               | By:    | /s/ Samuel J. Cox  |   |
|   |                 | Samuel J. Cox                                      |
|   |                 | Senior Vice President and  Chief Financial Officer |
|        |                      |                                                    |        |                    |        |  |

 

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