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The Business of Sierra Bancorp	3 Months Ended
The Business of Sierra Bancorp	Mar. 31, 2013
Business Description [Abstract]
The Business of Sierra Bancorp	*Note 1 – The Business of Sierra Bancorp* Sierra Bancorp (the “Company”) is a California corporation headquartered in Porterville, California, and is a registered bank holding company under federal banking laws. The Company was formed to serve as the holding company for Bank of the Sierra (the “Bank”), and has been the Bank’s sole shareholder since August 2001. The Company exists primarily for the purpose of holding the stock of the Bank and of such other subsidiaries it may acquire or establish. At the present time, the Company’s only other subsidiaries are Sierra Statutory Trust II and Sierra Capital Trust III, which were formed in March 2004 and June 2006, respectively, solely to facilitate the issuance of capital trust pass-through securities (TRUPS). Pursuant to the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB’s) standard on the consolidation of variable interest entities, these trusts are not reflected on a consolidated basis in the financial statements of the Company. References herein to the “Company” include Sierra Bancorp and its consolidated subsidiary, the Bank, unless the context indicates otherwise. The Bank is a California state-chartered bank headquartered in Porterville, California, that offers a full range of retail and commercial banking services primarily to communities in the central and southern regions of the San Joaquin Valley. Our branch footprint stretches from Fresno on the north to Bakersfield on the south, and on the southern end extends east through the Tehachapi plateau and into the northwestern tip of the Mojave Desert. The Bank was incorporated in September 1977 and opened for business in January 1978, and in the ensuing years has grown to be the largest independent bank headquartered in the South San Joaquin Valley. Our growth has primarily been organic, but includes the acquisition of Sierra National Bank in 2000. We currently operate 25 full service branch offices throughout our geographic footprint, as well as an internet branch which provides the ability to open deposit accounts online. The Bank’s most recent branching activity includes a new branch which opened for business in the city of Selma in February 2011, and the relocation of our Clovis branch to a larger facility in a more convenient location in the third quarter of 2012. In addition to our full-service branches, the Bank has a real estate industries group, an agricultural credit division, an SBA lending unit, and offsite ATM’s at six different non-branch locations. The Bank’s deposit accounts are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) up to maximum insurable amounts.