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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

   PURSUANT TO RULES 13a-14 AND 15d-14 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
               AND SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
                  CERTIFICATION OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

I, Thomas F. Prisby, certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of CFS Bancorp, Inc.
         (the "Registrant");

2.       Based on my knowledge, this 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 report;

3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in this 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;

4.       The Registrant's other certifying officer(s) 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
         Registrant 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 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;

         (b)      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

         (c)      Disclosed in this 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(s) 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
         functions):

         (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

         (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 13, 2003                          By:  /s/ Thomas F. Prisby
                                                   -----------------------------
                                                     Thomas F. Prisby
                                                     Chairman of the Board and
                                                     Chief Executive Officer