EXHIBIT 31.1  CERTIFICATION  OFCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF SARBANES-OXLEY ACT  I, B. Keith Johnson, certify that:  1)
  I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K
  of First Financial Service Corporation;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;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;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)) 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 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)
  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 report based on such evaluation; andd)
  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 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 data; andb)
  anyfraud, 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 16, 2009
  By:
  /s/
  B. Keith JohnsonB.
  Keith JohnsonChief Executive Officer