# Exhibit 31.1

Rule 13a  14(a)/15d  14(a) Certification of Chief Executive Officer

---

CERTIFICATION

I, James J. Stebor, certify that:

|1. |  | I have reviewed this quarterly
report on Form 10-Q of First Federal Bancshares, Inc.;
|-- |  | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

|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)) 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) |  | 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
| | --- |  | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | (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 (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 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:   May 17, 2004 |                                                      |  |  | /s/   James J. Stebor | 
|                     |                                                     
|                     | James J. SteborPresident and Chief Executive Officer | 

---