Bank of the Sierra Inducted into Market Cap Hall of Fame.

PORTERVILLE, Calif. -- At a recent Annual Strategic Issues Summit co-sponsored by the California Bankers Association and Carpenter & Company, Bank of the Sierra (Nasdaq:BSRR) became the second bank in history to be inducted into the Market Capitalization Hall of Fame. The Market Cap Hall of Fame was conceived by Carpenter & Company, Investment Bankers, to recognize California community banks that have realized exceptional increases in share price relative to the price paid by original shareholders. After adjusting for stock splits and stock dividends the price paid by original shareholders for Bank of the Sierra stock equates to $0.19 per share, as compared to recent trading levels as high as $24 per share.

"Carpenter and Company took our year-end 12/31/04 stock price, plus all cash dividend payments since inception, to arrive at a return to original shareholders of 21.20% per year since the Bank was founded in 1977," noted James C. Holly, President and CEO. Holly added, "strong growth and outstanding financial performance have fueled this return, and with our solid positioning in burgeoning markets we feel that this is the beginning rather than the end of the story."

About Bank of the Sierra

Now, 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 serves 13 different communities with 18 branches and two Ag Centers. For more information visit the web site at www.bankofthesierra.com or call (888) 454-BANK.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp is the holding company for Bank of the Sierra, currently in its 28th year of operations. In its July 2004 edition, US Banker magazine ranked BSRR as the nation's 16th best performing publicly-traded community bank in the nation, based on three-year average return on equity. More information about Bank of the Sierra is available on the Bank's web site, www.bankofthesierra.com.