Exhibit 31.1



ROANOKE ELECTRIC STEEL CORPORATION



SECTION 302

CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER



I, Donald G.
Smith, certify that:



1. I have reviewed this annual report on
Form 10-K of Roanoke Electric Steel Corporation (the Company);



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 report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;



4. The Company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 Company 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 Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this annual 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 Company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 Companys internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
Companys most recent fiscal quarter (the Companys fourth quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Companys internal control over financial reporting;
and



5. The Companys other certifying officer(s) and I
have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the Companys auditors and the audit committee of the Companys board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):



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 Company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 Companys internal control over financial reporting.



Date: January 11, 2006



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|/s/ Donald G. Smith                                                                           
|Donald G. Smith, Chairman, Treasurer and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer)