ALBANY, N.Y. -- According to Just Leadership, more than 25,000 people are being held in county jails across New York. The group also says 67 percent of those are behind bars because they could not afford bail and are awaiting trial.

"We need to get away from that system where we're using cash bail to penalize individuals who haven't been convicted of a crime," said Jamaica Miles of Citizen Action. 

As part of their effort to change that, several groups met in Albany Wednesday to address the issue at a community town hall. They're calling on lawmakers to make changes to the state's criminal justice system.

"Take a deeper dive," said Amy Jones of the Center for Law and Justice. "Look at it a little closer and make sure that it is progressive and aggressive as possible."

Advocates are calling for the elimination of cash bail and speeding up of trials. They also want to see reforms to the discovery law, to give the defense equal access to the evidence in the case.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed to end cash bail for those accused of misdemeanor and non-violent felonies. Democrats have unveiled a package that would end cash bail entirely.

Advocates say they plan to continue campaign through the end of the budget season.

"This is a moment in which it's critical that we pass transformative reform, that we pass real reform," said Katie Schaffer of Just Leadership.