Topeka ? Kansans can express a lot of opinions on their license plates.

They can support their favorite college sports teams, for example, or identify themselves as veterans or Shriners. They can even take a stand against child abuse.

So far, though, most Kansans aren’t wearing their allegiances on their cars.

Thousands of specialty plates gather dust in offices across the state — and in some cases, sales of the plates may not even cover the state’s cost of producing them.

“Groups think it’s quite a revenue generator, but some of that is really marginal,” said Rep. Gary Hayzlett, a Lakin Republican and chairman of the House Transportation Committee. “We really don’t need to clutter up the offices. We need to draw the line right now.”

Sheila Walker, director of the Kansas Division of Motor Vehicles, said the system in Kansas worked like this: After the Legislature approves a specialty plate for an organization, the group must get 500 people to sign a petition pledging to buy a plate once it is issued. Then the state produces 2,000 of the plates at a cost of about $8,000.

But in many cases, the state never sells 500 plates, and in some it has yet to sell the 200 needed to cover the state’s cost.

“You know what happens?” asked Johnson County Treasurer Dennis Wilson. “The new plates sit there and collect dust for months because 500 people said they would buy them. But 500 didn’t pay for them.”

Wilson said Johnson County had an inventory of almost 5,000 specialty plates and personalized plates purchased but never picked up. Wyandotte County has 1,800 specialty plates in its inventory.

Kansas legislators say they are getting more requests each year to approve new plates. About 20 have been granted, and many have been turned down.

Supporters persuaded the Legislature to approve an Agriculture in the Classroom license plate in 2000. So far, 116 have been purchased.

Barbara Oplinger, administrator of the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, said the group was looking for a more reliable funding source.

The 116 plates sold so far have not been a gold mine.

“To be honest with you, we haven’t recouped our original cost,” she said.

Specialty plates are more expensive for motorists.

A regular Kansas plate costs about $33 in state and county fees. To get an agriculture plate, for example, motorists pay an extra $40 state fee and an additional $25 each year to the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.

Most college plates in Kansas carry a $50 annual fee that goes to student scholarship funds at each school.

There are success stories, however.

The Children’s Trust Fund, for example, has 457 plates in circulation.

Joyce Cussimanio, the Kansas fund’s director, said the plate needed more promotion, which is difficult when she is the only staff member. Still, she said, the plate is useful.

“It’s a great way to increase public awareness about the Children’s Trust Fund and abuse and neglect,” she said.