Jackson postmaster on leave during probe of alleged rules violations

For more than a month, Jackson postmaster Mike Heuschober has been on administrative leave while the U.S. Postal Service conducts an investigation of alleged rules violations, a spokesman for the postal service said.

The allegations do not include charges of criminal misconduct, said Richard Watkins, spokesman for the Mid America District of the postal service said.

"It was an internal matter in terms of regulations, instructions, processing or mail delivery," Watkins said. Postal service rules prevent him from specifically stating the details of the allegations until the investigation is complete and a determination has been made that the charges can be substantiated, he said.

While Heuschober is on administrative leave, Delbert Walker, the Sikeston, Mo., postmaster, is the officer in charge of the Jackson post office, Watkins said. Heuschober is receiving his regular pay while on leave, Watkins said.

Heuschober did not return a telephone message left at his home seeking comment.

Investigations of post office matters are conducted in three ways, Watkins said. The Office of Inspector General investigates criminal allegations of internal post office matters and the Postal Inspection Service conducts investigations that cover external matters, such as theft of mail from homes or mailboxes. When the allegations cover internal regulation matters, as in Heuschober's case, they are handled by regular administrative channels of the postal service at the district level, he said.

Heuschober has been postmaster in Jackson since the mid-1990s. Before that he was plant manager of the postal service's Mail Processing and Distribution Center in Cape Girardeau.

The investigation is in its final stages, Watkins said. "We expect a resolution shortly," he said. "If there is any discipline involved, it should be announced in the next week or so."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 126

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