EXHIBIT 31.02

    Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a)/
 15d-14(a) as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Michele M. Thompson, certify that:

     1. I have reviewed this report on Form 10-Q of LaPorte  Bancorp,  Inc. (the
        registrant) for the quarter ended June 30, 2007;
     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 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-13(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 subsidiary,  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
              conclusion 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  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 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  registrant's
              internal control over financial reporting.



September 14, 2007                            /s/ Michele M. Thompson
---------------------------                   -------------------------------
Date                                          Michele M. Thompson
                                              Vice President and Chief Financial
                                              Officer
                                              LaPorte Bancorp, Inc.
                                              (registrant in formation)

                                       23