**Exhibit      31.1**

**CERTIFICATIONS**

| 1.   | I                have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Capital Corp of                the West                for the year ended December 31,                2006; |
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| 2.   | Based                on my knowledge, this annual 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                annual report; |
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| 3.   | Based                on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information                included in this annual 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 annual                report; |
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| 4.   | The                registrant’s other certifying officer 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)) and internal                control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules                13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and we                have: |
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| 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 annual report                is                being prepared; |
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| b.   | Designed                such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal                control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision,                to                provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial                reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external                purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting                principles; |
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| c.   | 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 |
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| d.   | Disclosed                in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over                financial reporting that occurred during the fourth quarter of 2006                that                has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,                the                registrant's internal control over financial                reporting; |
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| 5.   | The                registrant’s other certifying officer 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                function): |
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| 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 |
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| 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. |
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| Date:                March 14, 2007 |   |   |   | /s/                Thomas T. Hawker        |
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|                                |   |   |   | THOMAS                T. HAWKER            |
|                                |   |   |   | Director/CEO                and            |
|                                |   |   |   | Principal                Executive Officer |