Exhibit 31.1

                    Certification of Chief Executive Officer
            Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, R. Ray Pate, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

(1)   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of NCRIC Group, Inc.;

(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 registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
      quarterly report;

(4)   The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
      establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
      defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and
      have:

      a)    designed such disclosure controls and procedures 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
            quarterly report is being prepared;

      b)    evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
            and procedures and presented in this report our conclusion 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 occured during the
            registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially
            affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
            registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

(5)   The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on
      our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
      committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the
      equivalent functions):

      a)    all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
            controls which could adversely affect the registrant's ability to
            record, process, summarize and report financial data and have
            identified for the registrant's auditors any material weaknesses in
            internal controls; and

      b)    any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
            internal controls; and

(6)   The registrant's other certifying officers and I have indicated in this
      quarterly report whether there were significant changes in internal
      controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal
      controls subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation, including
      any corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies and
      material weaknesses.


    May 12, 2004                          /s/ R. Ray Pate, Jr.
    ------------                          --------------------
    Date                                  R. Ray Pate, Jr.
                                          President and Chief Executive Officer


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