MONTGOMERY, Ala.— After months of wrangling and discussion, the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education has implemented a ban on so-called “double dipping,” making it against the rules for employees to hold elected office.

An accompanying policy on leave and flex time means 10 system employees who are currently serving in the Legislature will have to use accrued leave in order to leave work to carry out their Capitol duties.

“I’m glad we’ve finally gotten to the point where we can implement the board’s policies once we had the clearance from our legal department,” Alabama Community College System Chancellor Bradley Byrne said Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Justice cleared the policies late last week and Byrne sent a memo telling college presidents to begin enforcing them.

A lawsuit filed by the Alabama Education Association challenging the policies is still pending, but Byrne said that does not affect the implementation.

“We’ll see what happens next,” in the courts, he said.

Under the new policies, employees will have to use paid leave to be away from their system jobs. Once that leave runs out, unpaid leave may be granted by their college presidents and Byrne, who makes the ultimate decision if unpaid leave is warranted.

Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, said he believes he has enough leave available to get him through the current session of the Legislature. But when he runs out of leave, Jackson said he expects he will resign his job at Alabama Southern Community College.

“When my leave is up I’ll probably go to the House and quit that job,” he said. “I don’t like the policy, but I’ve got to abide by the law.”

State school board members passed the policies in August as part of their efforts to reform the system, which has been the subject of an ongoing state and federal investigation that has uncovered corruption and nepotism problems.

Former state Rep. Bryant Melton, D-Tuscaloosa, resigned in 2006 and pleaded guilty to charges related to his job at Shelton State Community College. In January, former Chancellor Roy Johnson agreed to plead guilty to 15 felony bribery and corruption counts and told prosecutors he used his position to secure jobs for legislators.