It’s funny. I never knew anybody who had been arrested before I got into this business,” explains Leah Hulan. “Or if I did, I didn’t know they had been.”

And it is somewhat funny, because after saying this, Leah walks into the waiting room of the booking area in the Rutherford County Sheriff’s department. She enters one of four booths and sets her briefcase down on the table. Through the glass that separates her from the other side of the room is a man in an orange jumpsuit, his feet propped up on the table while leaning back in his chair, as if being in jail was a minor annoyance.

And Leah is all smiles.

She is the owner and face of Middle Tennessee’s own Grumpy’s Bail Bonds. For six years she and her husband have run the business out of Franklin and have expanded to serve not only Williamson county, but Rutherford, Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Maury and Wayne county.

“My husband and I were literally down to pennies when he came home one night and said we were going to do bail bonds,” Hulan explains, adding that she had no idea how the business worked or where to start.

“I went door-to-door at businesses in Fairview,” Leah added. “They let me put my picture in the window with the advertisement.

“I also went to a construction site and handed out cards to the workers,” Leah continued. This is where the language barrier became a factor: “They called later that night asking us to send girls. They thought I was a call girl.”

Since those days, Leah has added “successful bondswoman,” and possibly the most recognized person in the Middle Tennessee area to her already long list of accomplishments. She was Miss Tennessee twice, served in the U.S. Army Intelligence, and has written a book detailing her battle with bulimia.

So let’s put ourselves in a hypothetical situation: say you had to go to that frat party and you can’t say no to 23 beers, and you accidentally hit that gravity bong and you have to drive yourself home, only to be greeted by the cops, who forcefully suggest you take a ride with them. What happens?

“Your case goes before the magistrate who will determine what your bond will be,” explains Leah. The magistrate will assess the nature of the offense along with your “flight risk,” which are the chances that you might not show up to your court date. If you’re from out-of-town, don’t have a job and don’t own a home, chances are your bail will be high, since you wouldn’t have much keeping you around.

When the bond is set, there are several ways you can make bail, Hulan explains.

“You can put up [the amount of the bond] yourself. That’s a cash bond. But it might be difficult for somebody to come up with $1,000. But they usually can come up with $100.”

If you can’t pay the full bond, you can call a bondsman.

“We charge a 10 percent fee to post your bail,” Hulan explains. Once she is paid, she will post your bail and you are free to go.

The bond is just to make sure you will make it to your court date. Once that is settled, the money is returned in full.

“The right to bail is a wonderful right,” Hulan says. “It gives you the ability to get out of jail and mount a proper defense against the charges.

“Some people say ?I can’t believe you bailed so-and-so out of jail,” Leah says. “Not only am I going to bail them out, but I’m going to make sure they show back up. ?

When somebody skips out on a court date, it’s Leah’s money that’s put on the line, and that’s when fugitive recovery comes into play. The team at Grumpy’s bail bonds will begin searching for the offender, and, if necessary, arrest them and bring them in for skipping bail.

So if you ever find yourself in a little trouble with the law, you know who to call.

For more information, or even to purchase your own Grumpy’s shot glass or thong, Click here.