**Exhibit 31.1**

 

I, Joachim J. Brown,certify that:

 

1.                                       Ihave reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of First Ottawa Bancshares, Inc.;

 

2.                                        Basedon my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of amaterial fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statementsmade, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, notmisleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

 

3.                                        Basedon my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial informationincluded in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financialcondition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, andfor, the periods presented in this report;

 

4.                                        TheCompany’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing andmaintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined inExchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant andhave:

 

a)                                      Designedsuch disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls andprocedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that materialinformation relating to the registrant, including its consolidatedsubsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularlyduring the period in which this report is being prepared;

 

b)                                     Designed such internal control over financialreporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to bedesigned under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding thereliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statementsfor external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accountingprinciples;

 

c)                                      Evaluated the effectiveness of theCompany’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report ourconclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and proceduresas of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation;and

 

d)                                     Disclosed in this report any change inthe Company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred duringthe Company’s most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or isreasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control overfinancial reporting; and

 

5.                                        TheCompany’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our mostrecent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the Company’sauditors and the audit committee of Company’s board of directors (or personsperforming the equivalent functions):

 

a)                                      All significant deficiencies and material weaknessesin the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting whichare reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record,process, summarize, and report financial information; and

 

b)                                    Anyfraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees whohave a significant role in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

 
| Date:                    March 25,  2009 | /s/ Joachim J Brown                    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                                                         | Joachim J. Brown                       |
|                                                                                                                                         | President and Chief  Executive Officer |

 

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