The San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office whipped up praise and criticism alike when debuting a short-lived policy of posting all arrests, with mugshots, on Facebook last month, to highlight criminal justice reforms frustrating Sheriff Bill Masters.

After spurring debate and some outrage with a series of posted mugshots, the sheriff’s department announced a pareddown policy on Nov. 19, just a day after adopting the practice. Now, the department will only post mugshots and identify people issued ...