|EXHIBIT 3.1
 Articles of Incorporation, As Amended



ARTICLES
OF INCORPORATION


OF


SALINAS
VALLEY BANCORP

The
undersigned incorporator, for the purpose of forming a corporation under the
General Corporation Law of the State of California, hereby declares:


I

The
name of the corporation is Salinas Valley Bancorp.


II

The purpose
of the corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which a
corporation may be organized under the General Corporation Law of California
other than the banking business, the trust company business or the practice of a
profession permitted to be incorporated by the California Corporations Code.

III

The
name and address in the State of California of the corporations Initial
Agent for Service of Process is: John McCarthy, 301 Main Street, Salinas,
California 93901.

IV

The
corporation is authorized to issue two classes of shares designated
Preferred Stock and Common Stock, respectively. The
number of shares of Preferred Stock authorized to be issued is One Million
(1,000,000) and the number of shares of Common Stock authorized to be issued is
Twenty Million (20,000,000).

The
Preferred Stock may be divided into such number of series as the board of
directors may determine. The board of directors is authorized to determine and
alter the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions granted to and
imposed upon any wholly unissued series of Preferred Stock, and to fix the
number of shares of any series of Preferred Stock and the designation of any
such series of Preferred Stock. The board of directors, within the limits and
restrictions stated in any resolution or resolutions of the board of directors
originally fixing the number of shares constituting any series, may increase or
decrease (but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding)
the number of shares of any series subsequent to the issue of shares of that
series.

V

The
liability of the directors of this corporation for monetary damages shall be
eliminated to the fullest extent permissible under California law.

VI

This
corporation is authorized to provide indemnification of agents (as defined in
Section 317 of the California General Corporation Law) for breach of duty to the
corporation and its shareholders through bylaw provisions, agreements with
agents, or otherwise, in excess of the indemnification otherwise permitted by
Section 317 of the California General Corporation Law, subject to the limits on
such excess indemnification set forth in Section 204 of the California General
Corporation Law.

Certified
by California Secretary of State on February 24, 1994


Article
I of Central Coast Bancorps Articles of Incorporation shall be amended in
its entirety as follows:

The
name of the corporation is Central Coast Bancorp.

Certified
by California Secretary of State on December 28, 1994


Article
IV of the articles of incorporation of Bancorp is amended to read as follows:

The
corporation is authorized to issue two classes of shares designated
Preferred Stock and Common Stock, respectively. The
number of shares of Preferred Stock authorized to be issued is One Million
(1,000,000) and the number of shares of Common Stock authorized to be issued is
Twenty Million (20,000,000). Upon the amendment of this article, each
outstanding share of Common Stock is split into 1.5 shares as of March 28, 1997.

The
Preferred Stock may be divided into such number of series as the board of
directors may determine. The board of directors is authorized to determine and
alter the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions granted to and
imposed upon any wholly unissued series of Preferred Stock, and to fix the
number of shares of any series of Preferred Stock and the designation of any
such series of Preferred Stock. The board of directors, within the limits and
restrictions stated in any resolution or resolutions of the board of directors
originally fixing the number of shares constituting any series, may increase or
decrease (but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding)
the number of shares of any series subsequent to the issue of shares of that
series.

Certified
by California Secretary of State on April 14, 1997


Article
IV of the articles of incorporation of Bancorp is amended to read as follows:

The
corporation is authorized to issue two classes of shares designated
Preferred Stock and Common Stock, respectively. The
number of shares of Preferred Stock authorized to be issued is One Million
(1,000,000) and the number of shares of Common Stock authorized to be issued is
Twenty Five Million (25,000,000). Upon the amendment of this article, each
outstanding share of Common Stock is split into 1.25 shares.

The
Preferred Stock may be divided into such number of series as the board of
directors may determine. The board of directors is authorized to determine and
alter the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions granted to and
imposed upon any wholly unissued series of Preferred Stock, and to fix the
number of shares of any series of Preferred Stock and the designation of any
such series of Preferred Stock. The board of directors, within the limits and
restrictions stated in any resolution or resolutions of the board of directors
originally fixing the number of shares constituting any series, may increase or
decrease (but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding)
the number of shares of any series subsequent to the issue of shares of that
series.

Certified
by California Secretary of State on February 8, 1999.

The
articles of incorporation of Central Coast Bancorp shall be amended by adding
thereto a new Article VII which shall read as set forth below:

VII

(a)
The number of directors which shall constitute the whole board of directors of
this corporation shall be specified in the bylaws of the corporation.

(b)
In the event that the authorized number of directors shall be fixed at nine (9)
or more, the board of directors shall be divided into three classes: Class I,
Class II and Class III, each consisting of a number of directors equal as nearly
as practicable to one-third the total number of directors. Directors in Class I
shall initially serve for a term expiring at the 2002 annual meeting of
shareholders, directors in Class II shall initially serve for a term expiring at
the 2003 annual meeting of shareholders, and directors in Class III shall
initially serve for a term expiring at the 2004 annual meeting of shareholders.
Thereafter, each director shall serve for a term ending at the third annual
shareholders meeting following the annual meeting at which such director was
elected. In the event that the authorized number of directors shall be fixed
with at least six (6) but less than nine (9), the board of directors shall be
divided into two classes, designated Class I and Class II, each consisting of
one-half of the directors or as close an approximation as possible. At each
annual meeting, each of the successors to the directors of the class whose term
shall have expired at such annual meeting shall be elected for a term running
until the second annual meeting next succeeding his or her election and until
his or her successor shall have been duly elected and qualified. The foregoing
notwithstanding, each director shall serve until his or her successor shall have
been duly elected and qualified, unless he or she shall resign, die, become
disqualified or disabled, or shall otherwise be removed.

(c)
At each annual election, the directors chosen to succeed those whose terms then
expire shall be identified as being of the same class as the directors they
succeed, unless, by reason of any intervening changes in the authorized number
of directors, the board of directors shall designate one or more directorships
whose term then expires as directorships of another class in order more nearly
to achieve equality in the number of directors among the classes. When the board
of directors fills a vacancy resulting from the resignation, death,
disqualification or removal of a director, the director chosen to fill that
vacancy shall be of the same class as the director he or she succeeds, unless,
by reason of any previous changes in the authorized number of directors, the
board of directors shall designate the vacant directorship as a directorship of
another class in order more nearly to achieve equality in the number of
directors among the classes.

(d)
Notwithstanding the rule that the classes shall be as nearly equal in number of
directors as possible, in the event of any change in the authorized number of
directors, each director then continuing to serve as such will nevertheless
continue as a director of the class of which he or she is a member, until the
expiration of his current term or his or her earlier resignation, death,
disqualification or removal. If any newly created directorship or vacancy on the
board of directors, consistent with the rule that the three classes shall be as
nearly equal in number of directors as possible, may be allocated to one or two
or more classes, the board of directors shall allocate it to that of the
available class whose term of office is due to expire at the earliest date
following such allocation.

The
articles of incorporation of Central Coast Bancorp shall be amended by adding
thereto a new Article VIII which shall read as set forth below:

VIII

No
holder of any class of stock of the corporation shall be entitled to cumulative
voting in connection with any election of directors of the corporation.

Certified
by California Secretary of State on June 28, 2001.

Article
IV of the articles of incorporation of Bancorp is amended to read as follows:

The
corporation is authorized to issue two classes of shares designated
Preferred Stock and Common Stock, respectively. The
number of shares of Preferred Stock authorized to be issued is One Million
(1,000,000) and the number of shares of Common Stock authorized to be issued is
Thirty-One Million Two Hundred Fifty Thousand (31,250,000). Upon the amendment
of this article, each outstanding share of Common Stock is split into 1.25
shares.

The
Preferred Stock may be divided into such number of series as the board of
directors may determine. The board of directors is authorized to determine and
alter the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions granted to and
imposed upon any wholly unissued series of Preferred Stock, and to fix the
number of shares of any series of Preferred Stock and the designation of any
such series of Preferred Stock. The board of directors, within the limits and
restrictions stated in any resolution or resolutions of the board of directors
originally fixing the number of shares constituting any series, may increase or
decrease (but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding)
the number of shares of any series subsequent to the issue of shares of that
series.

Certified
by California Secretary of State on February 14, 2002.

Article
IV of the articles of incorporation of Bancorp is amended to read as follows:

The
corporation is authorized to issue two classes of shares designated
Preferred Stock and Common Stock, respectively. The
number of shares of Preferred Stock authorized to be issued is One Million
(1,000,000) and the number of shares of Common Stock authorized to be issued is
Thirty-nine Million Sixty-two Thousand Five Hundred (39,062,500). Upon the
amendment of this article, each outstanding share of Common Stock is split into
1.25 shares.

The
Preferred Stock may be divided into such number of series as the board of
directors may determine. The board of directors is authorized to determine and
alter the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions granted to and
imposed upon any wholly unissued series of Preferred Stock, and to fix the
number of shares of any series of Preferred Stock and the designation of any
such series of Preferred Stock. The board of directors, within the limits and
restrictions stated in any resolution or resolutions of the board of directors
originally fixing the number of shares constituting any series, may increase or
decrease (but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding)
the number of shares of any series subsequent to the issue of shares of that
series.

Certified
by California Secretary of State on February 14, 2005.
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