Exhibit 31.1

                     Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification

I, Jeffrey E. Smith, certify that:

     1. I have reviewed this  Quarterly  Report on Form 10-Q of Ohio Valley Banc
Corp.;

     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 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:

                  (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)      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
                           puposes  in   accordance  with   generally   accepted
                           accouting principles;

                  (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

                  (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 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 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:

                  (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 7, 2009                    By:  /s/  Jeffrey E. Smith
                                             -----------------------------------
                                             Jeffrey E. Smith, President and CEO
                                             (Principal Executive Officer)