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                                  Exhibit 31.1
                    CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
            Pursuant to section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Chapter
                63, Title 18 USC Section 1350 (A) and (B)


I, C.E. Porter, certify that:


1. I have reviewed this annual report on 10-K of Highlands Bankshares, Inc;


2.Based on my knowledge, this 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 report;

3.Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this 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 report;

4.The registrant's other certifying officer(s) 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)) 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
            registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
            to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
            period in which this report is being prepared;


            (b) 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


            (c) 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 (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; and

5.The registrant's other certifying officer(s) 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 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 registrant's
            internal control over financial reporting.

Date:   March 29, 2004
       -----------------------------


                                          /s/ C. E. PORTER
                                          ----------------------------------
                                          C.E. Porter, Chief Executive Officer

A signed original of this written statement required by Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has been provided to Highlands Bankshares, Inc. and
will be retained by Highland Bankshares, Inc. and furnished to the Securities
and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.