Exhibit 31

                                 CERTIFICATIONS

I, Howard R. Knapp, certify that:

1.   I have reviewed  this  quarterly  report on Form 10-QSB of Surety  Holdings
     Corp. and Subsidiary;

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 periods covered by
     this quarterly report;

3.   Based on my knowledge, the condensed consolidated financial statements, and
     other  financial  information  included in this  quarterly  report,  fairly
     present in all material  respects  the  consolidated  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 internal  control over
     financial  reporting  (as  defined  in  Exchange  Act Rules  13a-15(f)  and
     15d-15(f)) for the registrant 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 small
          business issuer, including its consolidated  subsidiaries,  made known
          to us by others within those entities,  particularly during the period
          in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

     (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;

     (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  quarterly  report  based  on  such
          evaluation; and

     (d)  Disclosed  in this  report  any  change in the  registrant's  internal
          control over financial reporting that occurred 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; and

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:

     (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

     (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material,  that involves management or other
          employees who have a significant  role in the small business  issuer's
          internal control over financial reporting.


Dated: November 11, 2003

                                            By: /s/ Howard R. Knapp
                                            -------------------------
                                            Howard R. Knapp
                                            President, Chief Executive and
                                            Financial Officer of Surety