EXHIBIT 31.1

                    CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
            PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Kim S. Price, President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

1.      I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Citizens South
Banking Corporation;

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)) and internal control over
financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15(d)-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 or 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;
        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 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 10, 2005            /s/ Kim S. Price
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           Kim Price
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer

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