Exhibit 31.1 Certification of
the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

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# Exhibit 31.1

# Certification pursuant
to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, James R. Clarkson, president and
chief executive officer, certify that:

| | 1. | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-KSB of HCSB Financial Corp.
| | -- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | 2. | Based on my knowledge, this annual 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 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 report is being prepared;
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| | b)       

                     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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| | 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 fourth fiscal quarter 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 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 (or persons performing
               the equivalent functions):
| | -- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | a)       

                     All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation
                    of internal controls 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.
| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

|Date:  March 25, 2004 |  | By:   /s/  James R. Clarkson         
|--------------------- |  | -------------------------------------
|                      |  | James R. Clarkson                    
|                      |  | President and Chief Executive Officer