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`Exhibit 31

                              FIRST M & F CORPORATION


CERTIFICATIONS
--------------


I, Hugh S. Potts, Jr., certify that:
1.       I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of First M&F 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 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; 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 (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 (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 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 : November 9, 2005                       /s/ Hugh S. Potts, Jr.
                                            -------------------------------------------------------
                                            Hugh S. Potts, Jr.
                                            Chairman and Chief Executive Officer`

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`FIRST M & F CORPORATION

                                                  CERTIFICATIONS

I, John G. Copeland, certify that:
1.       I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of First M&F 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 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; 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 (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 (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 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 : November 9, 2005                       /s/ John G. Copeland
                                            -------------------------------------------------------
                                            John G. Copeland
                                            EVP and Chief Financial Officer`