FIRST CLOVER LEAF FINANCIAL CORP.

                                                                    Exhibit 31.1

                    Certification of Chief Executive Officer
            Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Dennis M. Terry, certify that:

1.    I have reviewed this quarterly  report on Form 10-QSB of First Clover Leaf
      Financial Corp.;

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 small business  issuer as of, and for, the periods  presented
      in this quarterly report;

4.    The  small  business   issuer's  other  certifying   officers  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 small business issuer 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
            small business issuer, 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)   evaluated  the   effectiveness   of  the  small  business   issuer'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

      (c)   disclosed in this report any change in the small  business  issuer's
            internal  control over financial  reporting that occurred during the
            small  business  issuer's  most  recent  fiscal  quarter  (the small
            business issuer's fourth fiscal quarter in case of an annual report)
            that has materially affected,  or is reasonably likely to materially
            affect,  the small business issuer's internal control over financial
            reporting; and

5.    The  small  business  issuer's  other  certifying   officers  and  I  have
      disclosed,  based on our most recent  evaluation of internal  control over
      financial reporting, to the small business issuer's auditors and the audit
      committee of the small business issuer's board of directors:

      (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 small business  issuer'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 small  business
            issuer's internal control over financial reporting.


Date: November 14, 2006

                                           /s/ Dennis M. Terry
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           Dennis M. Terry
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer