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,  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 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   quarterly   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 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 function):

      a)    all significant  deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
            controls 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: August 8, 2005                         /s/ R. E. Coffman, Jr.
                                             -----------------------------------
                                             R. E. Coffman, Jr.
                                             President & Chief Executive Officer


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