EXHIBIT 31.1

                            CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
                  SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, R. E. Coffman, Jr., certify that:

1)    I have reviewed this quarterly  report on Form 10-Q of Oak Hill Financial,
      Inc.;

2)    Based on my knowledge,  this quarterly  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 quarterly report;

3)    Based on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and other  financial
      information  included  in this  quarterly  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
      quarterly 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-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and we have:

      a)    designed  such  disclosure  controls and  procedures  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
            quarterly report is being prepared;

      b)    designed such internal  control over  financial  reporting or caused
            such  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 annual report our  conclusions
            about the  effectiveness of the disclosure  controls and procedures,
            as of the end of the period covered by this  quarterly  report based
            on such evaluation; and

      d)    disclosed in this  quarterly  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 and I have disclosed,  based on
      our most recent  evaluation,  to the  registrant's  auditors and the audit
      committee of  registrant's  board of directors (or persons  performing the
      equivalent function):

      a)    all significant  deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
            controls which could adversely  affect the  registrant's  ability to
            record,  process,  summarize  and  report  financial  data  and have
            identified for the registrant's  auditors any material weaknesses in
            internal controls; and

      b)    any fraud,  whether or not  material,  that  involves  management or
            other  employees  who have a  significant  role in the  registrant's
            internal controls; and

6)    The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer and I have indicated in this
      quarterly report whether or not there were significant changes in internal
      controls or in other  factors  that could  significantly  affect  internal
      controls  subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation,  including
      any  corrective  actions  with  regard  to  significant  deficiencies  and
      material weaknesses.

Date: May 10, 2005                        /s/ R. E. Coffman, Jr.
                                          -------------------------------------
                                          R. E. Coffman,  Jr.  President & Chief
                                          Executive Officer


                                      -20-