Try
Dim cmd As SqlCommand = New SqlCommand("SELECT TOP 5 firstname,lastname,hiredate FROM EMPLOYEES", New SqlConnection("Server=localhost;Database=Northwind;Trusted_Connection=True;"))
cmd.Connection.Open()
Dim datareader As SqlDataReader = cmd.ExecuteReader()
chkBoxEx.DataSource = datareader
chkBoxEx.DataTextField = "firstname"
chkBoxEx.DataBind()
cmd.Connection.Close()
cmd.Connection.Dispose()
Catch ex As Exception
lblStatus.Text = ex.Message
End Try
End Sub