BSRR Sierra Bancorp

PORTERVILLE, Calif., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bank of the Sierra is pleased to announce Kevin McPhaill as Executive Vice President and Chief Banking Officer of Sierra Bancorp, and its banking subsidiary, Bank of the Sierra. The Chief Banking Officer position is new for Bank of the Sierra and will focus on business development activities, branch administration and branch expansion. Mr. McPhaill has been a Vice President and Area Manager of Bank of the Sierra's Hanford branch since June of 2001. He has a total of 15 years banking experience. Mr. McPhaill has obtained an undergraduate degree from Fresno Pacific University, an MBA from Fresno State University and will graduate from the South West Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University in June 2006. "On January 1, 2006, Kevin McPhaill assumed the roles and responsibilities of Chief Banking Officer," stated President and CEO James C. Holly, "Kevin will effectively oversee and develop business development and branch expansion within our market." About Bank of the Sierra With $1 billion in assets and strong performance ratios, Bank of the Sierra operates as the largest independent community bank headquartered in California's Heartland. The Bank operates nineteen branch offices, two Agricultural Credit centers, and one SBA Loan center. For more information visit the web site at http://www.bankofthesierra.com/ or call 888-454-BANK. About Sierra Bancorp Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) is the holding company for Bank of the Sierra. In June 2005, Sierra Bancorp was added to the Russell 2000 index based on relative growth in market capitalization. In its July 2005 edition, US Banker magazine ranked Sierra Bancorp as the nation's 8th best performing publicly-traded community bank based on three-year average return on equity. DATASOURCE: Bank of the Sierra CONTACT: Matthew Hessler, Marketing Officer of Bank of the Sierra, +1-559-782-4900, or 888-454-BANK Web site: http://www.bankofthesierra.com/

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