Exhibit 31.1



Rule 13a-14(a)
Certification of the Chief Executive Officer



I, Jerold L. Rexroad, President and
Chief Executive Officer, certify that:



|1. | I have reviewed this
    Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Carolina Financial Corporation;
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|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;
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|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
    annual report;
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|4. | The registrant’s
    other certifying officer 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:
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| | (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;
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| | (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;
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| | (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
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| | (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 (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of this annual report) that has materially
    affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting;
    and
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|5. | The registrant’s
    other certifying officer 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):
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| | (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
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| | (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.
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|Date: April 24, 2020 | 
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