**Exhibit 31.1**

 

Rule13a-14(a) Certification of the Principal Executive Officer.

 

 

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| **Exhibit  31.1**                                                          |
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| Rule  13a-14(a) Certification of the Principal Executive Officer.          |
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| I,  R. Arthur Seaver, Jr., certify that:                                   |
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| 1.                                                                         | I  have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Southern First  Bancshares, Inc.; |
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| 2.                                                                         | Based  on my knowledge, this quarterly 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 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 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 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 |
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| 5.                                                                         | The  registrant’s other certifying officers 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 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 controls 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 registrants’s internal control over  financial reporting. |
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| Date:  August 12, 2009                                                     | By: | /s/  R. Arthur Seaver, Jr.                      |
|                                                                       |   | R.  Arthur Seaver, Jr. |
|                                                                       |   | Chief  Executive Officer |

 

 

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