HBT Financial Inc

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

An evaluation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) or Rule 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this report was carried out under the supervision and with the participation of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and other members of the Company’s senior management. The Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of December 31, 2024, the end of the period covered by this report, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective in ensuring that the information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports it files or submits under the Exchange Act is: (i) accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management (including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer) to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure; and (ii) recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Management of the Company is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting. Internal control is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of published financial statements. Internal control over financial reporting includes self-monitoring mechanisms, and actions are taken to correct deficiencies as they are identified.

Management assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024. This assessment was based on criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in 2013. Based on this assessment, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have determined that the Company maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024 based on the specified criteria.

All internal control systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

RSM US LLP, the independent registered public accounting firm that audited the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report, has issued an audit opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024. The report, which expresses an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, is included in this Item.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) or Rule 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2024 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of HBT Financial, Inc.

Opinion on the Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited HBT Financial, Inc. and Subsidiaries’ (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013. In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income (loss), changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes to the consolidated financial statements and our report dated March 7, 2025 expressed an unqualified opinion.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed 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. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ RSM US LLP

Chicago, Illinois

March 7, 2025