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.;

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

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:

      (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;

      (b) [paragraph omitted pursuant to SEC Release Nos. 33-8238 and 34-47986];

      (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

      (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


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):

      (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:__03/29/2004_____

_/s/ Steven L. Bechman
Steven L. Bechman, Chief Executive Officer