**EXHIBIT          31.1**

**NORTHERN          STATES FINANCIAL CORPORATION**

| 1. | I                    have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Northern                    States                    Financial Corporation; |
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| 2. | Based                    on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue                    statement of 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; |
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| 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                    report; |
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| 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                    have: |
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|   | (a) | Designed                    such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure                    and                    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; |
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|   | (b) | Designed                    such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such                    internal                    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; |
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|   | (c) | 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 |
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|   | (d) | Disclosed                    in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over                    financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s second fiscal                    quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely                    to                    materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial                    reporting; and |
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| 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 the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing                    the equivalent functions): |
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| (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 |
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| (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. |
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| Date:                     November 7, 2006 | By:   | /s/                Fred Abdula |

|   |   | Fred Abdula |
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|   |   | Chairman of the Board ofDirectors                    and President |
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