(a) Except as provided in Subsection (b), a branch distributor’s license may be issued only to the holder of a general distributor’s license who first has obtained the primary license in the county of the licensee‘s residence or domicile. The branch distributor’s license may be issued for premises in any county where the sale of malt beverages is legal.
(b) A general distributor’s licensee whose primary license was voided by a local option election under prior law, who took advantage of the right then existing to obtain a primary license in another county where he held a branch distributor’s license without qualifying as a resident or domiciliary of that county, is not prevented from continuing to renew the primary license or from holding one or more branch licenses by the fact that the primary license is not in the county of his residence or domicile.