<PAGE>




                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                                  CERTIFICATION

I, Robert R. Jones, III, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of United Bancorporation
of Alabama, Inc. (the "Registrant");

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-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) 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 quarterly report is being prepared;

              (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the Registrant's disclosure
       controls and procedures and presented in this quarterly report our
       conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
       procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report
       based on such evaluation; and

              (c) Disclosed in this quarterly 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;



<PAGE>

5. The Registrant's other certifying officers 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 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: November 14, 2003
                                            /s/ Robert R. Jones, III
                                            -----------------------------------
                                            Robert R. Jones, III
                                            President and CEO



                                       2