Exhibit 31.1

Section 302 Certification for President and Chief Executive Officer

I, Steven L. Bechman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Heartland
Bancshares, Inc., certify that:

|1. | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-KSB of Heartland Bancshares,
Inc.;
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|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;
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|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 small business issuer as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
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|4. | The small business issuer'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)) [clause omitted pursuant to SEC
Release Nos. 33-8238 and 34-47986] for the small business issuer and have:
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| | (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 report is being prepared;
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| | (b)        [paragraph omitted pursuant
to SEC Release Nos. 33-8238 and 34-47986];
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| | (c)        Evaluated the effectiveness
of the small business issuer'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 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 the 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
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|5. | The small business issuer's other certifying officer(s) 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 (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 small
business issuer'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 small business issuer's internal control over financial reporting
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|Date:  03/29/2005 | /s/ Steven L. Bechman
Steven L. Bechman, Chief Executive Officer
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